Now That’s What I Call Meow-sic: 16 times cats made their way into song
Image: Graphic: Natalie Peeples Music Features Inventory![Now That’s What I Call Meow-sic: 16 times cats made their way into song](https://img.pastemagazine.com/wp-content/avuploads/2019/02/14183808/xzsdjf8uesx0zarngj9n.jpg)
As cats domesticated themselves, it was inevitable that they’d take over our music, too. At least as far back as the Baroque era, they’ve been purring their way into our songs: Domenico Scarlatti’s “Sonata G Minor (Cat’s Fugue)” was inspired by his cat, Pulcinella, stomping across his keyboard, the 17th-century equivalent of 21st-century cats who believe that laptops don’t work unless they’ve been properly warmed under a feline butt. And that’s just one example in classical music’s long obsession with cats, music originally performed for the pleasure of European aristocrats whose leisurely lifestyles weren’t too far off from a cat’s busy schedule of napping, eating, and then napping again. If any modern genre carries the mantle now, it’s probably electronic, what with EDM’s many cat-themed acts and meow-sampling tracks—not to mention phenomena like Cats On Synthesizers In Space, yet another manifestation of cats’ obsession with walking all over humans’ stuff. Together, they suggest that, even when they aren’t dedicating songs to them, synth nerds love them some fur babies. And their fur babies love their synths right back.
What we’re concerned with in this list are modern songs that are dedicated to cats—ones explicitly about or at least anecdotally inspired by cats in their creators’ lives. That means their own pets, like Thundercat’s tributes to his best bud, Tron, but also friends’ or feral cats whose rhythmic strides or outsize personalities moved them to song. But be warned: For every devotional “Delilah,” there’s an “All Dead, All Dead,” as inevitably pets get lost, or just old, and artists feel inspired to hit “record” on their heartbreak. In the end, all cats must pass, even the internet-famous ones. But these particular kitties were lucky to have humans who cared enough to immortalize them in song.
1. Thundercat, “Tron Song” (2013) and “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)” (2017)
Cats are their own creatures, never bending to artificial mandates like “Don’t scratch there,” or “That’s not a toy,” or “It’s inappropriate to lick your butt in front of guests.” So it makes sense that Thundercat, the genre-bending multi-instrumentalist who’s no fan of conformity himself, would be best friends with a kitty cat. Thundercat frequently talks, tweets, and writes songs about his cat Tron (full name: Turbo Tron Over 9000 Baby Jesus Sally), most notably in “Tron Song” and its sequel, “A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II).” In the first “Tron Song,” Thundercat proclaims his undying loyalty to his calico pal, singing, “Don’t you ever leave me Turbo Tron / Don’t ever wonder where I’m going.” In “A Fan’s Mail,” he wonders what it would be like to actually be Tron, concluding that, “It’s cool to be a cat,” because you can do whatever you want. [Katie Rife]
2. Pink Floyd, “Lucifer Sam” (1967)
It can always be a struggle teasing out the deeper meanings behind Pink Floyd’s various psychedelic musical odysseys—especially on The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn, the band’s first album, and the only one created under the guidance of noted LSD enthusiast Syd Barrett. Is the “Lucifer Sam” who lends his name to the album’s second song just a “hep cat,” creeping on Barrett’s ex—or possibly Satan himself? Apparently not: Supposedly, the “Siam cat” featured here really was just Barrett’s personal kitty, Sam, getting his time in the jam-band-y spotlight, and a taste of the sinister descending riffs that cats so clearly love. The song’s feline origins are made even clearer by the title it was originally recorded under: “Percy The Rat Catcher.” [William Hughes]
3. Kate Bush, “The Big Sky” (1985) and “Rocket’s Tail” (1989)
Kate Bush’s pets have made their way into her work a few times throughout her career. The art-pop icon snuggled up to her two dogs, Bonnie and Clyde, on the cover of her seminal 1985 album, Hounds Of Love, while around the same era, Bush’s cats, Zoodle and Pyewacket, apparently starred in a comic strip she drew for her fan-club newsletter. And her cats have made it into song at least twice: “Rocket’s Tail,” from 1989’s The Sensual World, while not exactly about her cat Rocket, is “inspired by and for him,” celebrating living fully, briefly in the moment. And Hounds’ “The Big Sky,” Bush notes, was influenced by observing “this great cat I used to have who’d sit on this wall in the garden, looking up at the sky.” Ultimately, it’s a song about free thought and going your own way—something cats, living by their own rules and agenda, are continually schooling us in. [Kelsey J. Waite]
4. Ricky Eat Acid, “Big Man’s Last Trip Outside” (2014)
Given electronic music’s fondness for cats, there are probably way more tracks out there inspired by feline friends than we’ll ever know. But on his first proper LP as Ricky Eat Acid, Baltimore-based musician Sam Ray explicitly made “Big Man’s Last Trip Outside” to capture his cat’s glorious last escape into the outdoors the day before he died. “He’d been too sick to go out. It was March, it was a beautiful day, and we lost him. We couldn’t find him. I was pretty sure I was going to find him dead somewhere, but he turned up under a bush,” Ray told Interview in 2013. And he conveys the experience with an elliptical, filmic beauty: drone filters opening and closing like eyes adjusting to the light, synths prickling like an animal scrambling through the brush. It is a bittersweet two and half minutes, capturing the tension between Ray’s worried search and the euphoria Big Man must’ve felt running through the grass one last time. [Kelsey J. Waite]
5. Let’s Eat Grandma, “The Cat’s Pyjamas” (2018)
The spooky, R&B-flecked electro-pop of Let’s Eat Grandma’s I’m All Ears made for one of last year’s most immersive listens (so much so that we named it one of our favorite releases of 2018). It’s easy to get lost amid so many sonic textures, but if one’s likely to break your trance it’s that rumbling purr that caps off “The Cat’s Pyjamas,” a placid instrumental tucked in the album’s latter half. “Some people have said it’s really unnerving,” the band’s Rosa Walton told the BBC. “I think a cat’s purr is one of the nicest sounds, but apparently some people think it’s creepy.” To be fair, it is a touch jarring at first, but it all becomes more comforting when you learn that the purr belongs to Adam, an adorable black kitty that lives inside Manchester’s Eve Studios. Will he return for the duo’s third LP? Probably. If they bring treats, of course. [Randall Colburn]
6. Prince & Sheena Easton, “La, La, La, He, He, Hee” (1986)
Prince wasn’t known for many novelty songs, but “La, La, La, He, He, Hee” certainly qualifies, a sort-of seduction song involving a dog and a cat and a tree. It’s the B-side to the Sign O’ The Times title-track single, and the album’s liner notes dub the song a dare to Prince from “Morning Train” singer Sheena Easton, claiming he couldn’t write a song with such a basic phrase as the title. Easton later elaborated on the track’s origins, pointing out that she owned a half-dozen cats at the time, and she pitched the concept for the cat-dog get-busy song. Prince apparently encouraged her, saying, “Actually, that’d be kind of cute! Go ahead and write it,” helping it springboard into a funky seduction dance: “Licking your tail like it’s cream / Stroking your whiskers, causing a scene.” There’s also a 10-minute “highly explosive” version that’s even more intense, if you can get past all the dog barks. [Gwen Ihnat]
7. Parquet Courts, “Sunbathing Animal” (2014)
In “Poem (As The Cat),” William Carlos Williams used spare language and frequent line breaks to mimic the careful, hesitant steps house cats often make while negotiating unfamiliar obstacles. In the title track off of 2014’s Sunbathing Animal, Brooklyn quartet Parquet Courts take a decidedly different approach in describing lead singer Andrew Savage’s beloved pet, playing faster and more frenetic than they have on nearly any other song. The lyrics range from existential (“Most freedom is deceiving / If such a thing exists”) to merely descriptive (“There’s a patch of light that hits the floor I’ll often occupy / Stretch my arms and legs and close my eyes”). It’s familiar territory for the band, both in subject and sound, just delivered from the point of view of a warm, lazy cat. [Laura Adamczyk]
8. Joni Mitchell, “Man From Mars” (1998)
Joni Mitchell initially turned down a request to write a sad song for the Grace Of My Heart soundtrack, saying, “I have to feel what I write.” Then her cat went missing. Inspired by a torturous 17-day wait for her beloved cat, Nietzsche, a.k.a. “Man From Mars,” to come home, “Man From Mars” could be about any form of loss, from a breakup to a death in the family. “There’s no center to my life now / No grace in my heart,” Mitchell sings over celestial piano and sighing backup vocals, quite a romantic arrangement for a song about a creature who ran away after peeing on the floor. Or maybe Mitchell’s cat really is magic: As she told USA Today in 1998, “The night I finished [the song], my amazing little mancat appeared in a neighbor’s yard and I retrieved him. That was kind of mystical.” [Katie Rife]
9. Various Artists, Souris Calle (2018)
Souris Calle may be the most star-studded musical tribute to a cat ever in history. A memorial to French conceptual artist Sophie Calle’s cat, Souris, who died in 2014, the album opens with an answering-machine message from Bono—“Souris—C’est Bono ici”—and features compositions from the likes of Laurie Anderson, Pharrell, Michael Stipe, Jean-Michel Jarre, and a host of major French artists. Some, like Anderson, knew Souris personally, but most worked from photos and video of Calle with her beloved black-and-white fur ball. It’s a project that could’ve veered into parody, but it’s actually an impressively diverse, affecting listen, touching on Calle and Souris’ specific relationship, the joy—and sound—of cats broadly, and especially the aftermath of losing one. Calle presented the album with an exhibit where visitors could listen and look through images of Souris, building a public display to match the feline’s significance in her life. By the time Souris Calle was released in the fall of 2018, she still wasn’t ready to get a new cat. [Kelsey J. Waite]
10. Aimee Mann, “Goose Snow Cone” (2017)
Adorable kitties don’t have to be close by to serve as a muse for great tunes; Aimee Mann’s plaintive ode to heartbreak (off 2017’s Mental Illness) was inspired by looking at her friend’s cat pictures on Instagram. Referencing the photogenic white fluff ball in question, “Goose snow cone” was originally a placeholder phrase. “It’s very dumb that I kept the name, but once I wrote the song, I was stuck with it,” Mann later noted. She embraced her inspiration fully for the song’s video, though, which features not only the actual Goose, but also his owner and his vet, telling a sweet little story that’s likely to put a non-hairball-based lump in the throat of anyone who’s ever had to bring an empty cat carrier back home from the vet. [William Hughes]
11. Old 97’s, “Murder (Or A Heart Attack)” (1999)
The chorus of “Murder (Or A Heart Attack)” sounds an awful lot like one of Old 97’s many catchy love songs: “But I’m leavin’ the back door open / ’Til you come back, ’til you come back.” But, as frontman Rhett Miller has confirmed in live shows, it’s not a scorned lover he’s waiting on, and the verses tell the real story. It opens with “And the hole in the screen / Is barely big enough for you,” and closes with some self-flagellation that doubles as a warning to cat owners: “Situation could’ve been avoided / If I’d only shut the window.” Miller wrote the song after a friend’s cat he was watching slipped out the window, and we’re just going to assume the cat came back, because we can’t bear to think otherwise. [Laura M. Browning]
12. Queen, “All Dead, All Dead” (1977) and “Delilah” (1991)
As the movie Bohemian Rhapsody made clear, Freddie Mercury loved his cats. But apparently he wasn’t the only member of Queen who did. Brian May penned a poignant ode to his childhood cat on 1977’s News Of The World called “All Dead, All Dead” (the track that followed it was called “Spread Your Wings”). As part of the album’s 40th anniversary box set, a version of the song was released with Mercury’s vocals instead, where the known cat lover does a typically transformative job of sending the beloved pet off to the afterlife. Mercury got the chance to write his own pet ode with a cut on 1991’s Innuendo, the band’s last album before his death: “Delilah,” a love song to his favorite calico—“You bring me hope / You make me laugh and I like it”—complete with a “meow”-filled chorus. Unfortunately, drummer Roger Taylor did not share the love for his bandmates’ pet opuses, reportedly saying, “I hate ‘Delilah.’ That’s just not me.” [Gwen Ihnat]
13. Booker T. & The M.G.s, “Green Onions” (1962)
Okay, so there’s some dispute over the exact inspiration for Booker T. & The M.G.s’ 1962 instrumental hit “Green Onions.” Some accounts claim the song got its name from the nasty, funky whiff of Booker T.’s main Hammond riff, while guitarist Steve Cropper insists it was inspired by the gait of a cat named Green Onions. Either way, there’s no denying the Memphis soul cut moves with an aloof, feline prowl. There’s a reason it’s a film favorite for soundtracking mischief and cons: Like a tomcat making its neighborhood rounds, the song’s groove is on the hunt but playing it cool, simultaneously up to nothing and no good at all. The recording’s improvised feel only amplifies the unpredictable animal energy. [Kelsey J. Waite]
14. Kimya Dawson, “For Boxer” (2004)
Kimya Dawson’s music exudes a dull, satisfying sparkle, the singer having established herself as one of the few artists to make lo-fi bedroom pop sound downright whimsical. “For Boxer” is, shall we say, not that. Inspired by the death of her cat, Boxer, the two-minute track is painfully intimate, with Dawson’s cracked, tear-soaked vocals collapsing alongside her drum machine, which hammers away in the background like a palpitating heart. “I hope you know that losing you’s the hardest thing on earth for me,” she croaks. “I love you so very much, my pretty little kitty.” After cycling through the refrain once more—“flying, sailing, dying, same thing”—Dawson trails off with a litany of despairing sorries. Cheekily, she follows it up with a track called “I’m Fine,” but it’s still hard not to want to run and give her a hug, no matter that Boxer’s been gone for at least seven years now. [Randall Colburn]
15. Advance Base, “Our Cat” (2012)
Advance Base’s Owen Ashworth doesn’t manufacture high drama. Instead, the songwriter formerly known as Casiotone For The Painfully Alone builds songs around small, recognizable stories that, despite their familiarity, still resound with melancholy, laughter, and hard-fought wisdom. “Remember the time when our cat ran away?” go the opening lyrics of “Our Cat,” a lovely, drizzly waltz that follows its narrator to the ASPCA and the copy store, where flyers are made with “her cutest picture.” “I’m pretty sure we bummed out everyone we know,” Ashworth cracks in his dry, straightforward speak-sing. The good news is that the cat returns in the end, but it nevertheless leaves our narrator with a palpable sense of unease. “Remember the strangers who thought they were wise?” he sings. “Who promised she’d be back ’cause cats have nine lives? / We tried to be grateful for stupid advice. / They don’t come back sometimes, but this time it was fine.” Sometimes the specter of loss is a trauma in and of itself. [Randall Colburn]
16. Lil B, “Keke That’s My Kitty” (2012)
Is Drake’s “In My Feelings” secretly a love song to Lil B’s cat? Let’s examine the evidence: In 2012, Lil B released a YouTube video called “KeKe The Adopted Tabby Cat MAKES HISTORY! FIRST ANIMAL IN HIP HOP! FEAT LIL B !!!” featuring Lil B making meowing noises as his tabby cat Keke can be heard purring in the background. Then six years later, knowing full well that Keke is Lil B’s cat, Drake dropped “In My Feelings,” which opens with a real steal-your-girl kind of line: “Kiki, do you love me?” The spelling may have been different, but the gauntlet was thrown nonetheless. Shortly after, Lil B relaunched his “Based Freestyle” series with a response track, “Keke That’s My Kitty,” reasserting that Keke is his cat, and if anyone else wants a cat, they can go down to the ASPCA and get one. “Don’t disrespect others!” a voice shouts at the end of the track. General advice for life, or a warning for a certain ex-child actor from Toronto to leave Lil B and Keke alone? You be the judge. [Katie Rife]
91 Comments
Was stunned not to see that one.
Yeah, but until I saw this bit: modern songs that are dedicated to cats—ones explicitly about or at least anecdotally inspired by cats in their creators’ lives I don’t know that MTJ is specifically dedicated to or inspired by Killer Mike’s and El-P’s own cats.
Seriously I was truly shocked to not see it.
This is what I came here to post. Closest thing to a reference is in the intro: “…meow-sampling tracks…”, except RTJ is not EDM.
I enjoyed alot
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no problem, glad to help.
Uh, the Weakerthans?
the whole Virtute trifecta is incredible
Wait, I’m sure I can look this up somewhere, but what’s the third one besides Plea and Explains Her Departure???
Virtute At Rest, on John K Samson’s Winter Wheat.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsNjM_1MbQY
Also, be sure to listen to 17th Street treatment centre, it kind of gives ‘at rest’ context as it’s from the perspective of Virtutes owner
A wonderful Youtuber put all 4 songs together. It’s among the most insightful sets about depression, addiction, recovery, and the residual damage it causes.
I rarely get upset when songs are missing form lists like this. Like, fine, they didn’t include that song by Primus, whatever. But missing The Weakerthan’s Virtue Cycle is a glaring omission.
I can’t even listen to the second and third parts sometimes, they get me too good.
Beat me to it. One of my favorite songs ever.
Same here
Such a good song about trying to break out of depression.“We’ll talk about the weather/and how the weather used to be” cracks me up every time.
Just yesterday I was reading about how Freddie Mercury was a huge cat lover. Apparently he dedicated his first solo album to his four cats and “all the cat lovers across the universe—screw everybody else!” He ended up with ten cats total, and in the video for “These Are the Days of Our Lives” he’s wearing a vest with portraits of many of them:
AMQA – Cats Are Neat. I’m too dumb to insert the clip, apparently.
THE GARBAGE APE REJECTS THIS THREAD AND ALL IT STANDS FORHERE’S THE ONLY CAT SONG THAT MATTERS
It’s got a great hook.
Where is Aesop Rock’s Kirby? His cat is even in the video.
Um, Love Cats?
My favorite is from Nils Frahm’s Late Night Tales. It’s an overlap (? idk what that’s called) / loop of Nina Jurisch – Cleo The Cat and Cirkel by Dub Tractor. I’d share it here but I can’t find it. The meows and trills are so sweet, and for me that track captures the feeling of lounging about with a kitty.Now, anyone else care to join me in turning this comment section into a cat photo album?
Mister Grist: Mister Mallory: Brothers, both to be 16 in April. Actual barn cats I got from a farmer down the way.
Oops, I…already did. Honestly, articles like this make me think about things I don’t need to think about. He’s fine!
They’re so handsome!
My dog goes nuts whenever this is on the stereo, so I guess the cat sound effect must be pretty realistic:
Damn, just what I needed: another good cry from that Aimee Mann song.I’m new to her music so I’m getting acquaintaned with her Best Of tracks little by little.
While not a song, there is of course the story of Roger Dean’s cat, who made his way onto one of the album covers for Yes. (the pawprints in the sky that were sorta covered up with clouds)
Aesop Rock on the therapeutic mental health benefits of cat ownership
“15 years taking prescriptions now a shrink like I don’t know maybe get a kitten”
Nice to see a mention for Kate Bush’s Rocket’s Tail. It’s one of my favourite songs of hers, with fantastic vocal work from Trio Bulgarka, but rarely gets a mention in any discussion of her work.
Thank you based god
No mention of Local H and their album Pack Up The Cats?
No Kirby?! Aesop Rock’s ode to his “vaccine queen” is awesome. On cat’s effect on mental health: “15 years taking prescriptions, now a shrink like, ‘I dunno, maybe get a kitten?’l
I felt personally attacked that this song was left off the list.
No Local H? They have an album titled Pack up the Cats, for chrissake!
The Presidents of the United States- Kitty?
Missed the greatest cat song ever.
Thirteen stories, 28 replies, no Al Stewart yet?
I’ll also throw in Les Paul and Mary Ford having some fun with their new toys of the era on a rather
Another quality miss – Mark Kozelek’s ode to his cat from Old Ramon:
No “Charly” by The Prodigy?
Lets not forget all the cats we love despite their deep disdain for humanity
Why do cats have to die so soon when people like recognitions and CallMeShoebox live? It’s like some sick joke being played.
I’m not “Big Man’s Last Trip Outside”…YOU ARE ::grabs tissues::
What about Phenomenal Cat by The Kinks off of The Village Green Preservation Society. It’s a song about a fat cat that likes to sit and wallow in a tree all day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upWnwfzA_i8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upWnwfzA_i8
I always interpreted the use of “cat” in this song as “dude” or “guy.” It’s easier to imagine a “hep cat” pointing out all the places on the map he’d been, and talking about flying to Hong Kong, than a feline doing so.
A SINGING CAT?????
Uhm, Meow the Jewels?
No love for MC Scat Kat?
No.
Slow Inventory day, huh?
“Wop-a-Din-Din” by Red House Painters
Bob Dylan’s cat in the sixties, the one he carries on the cover art for Bringing It All Back Home, was named Rollin’ Stone.
The first thing that popped into my mind was this compilation:
I know this totally doesn’t fit into the parameters of this post, but I am partial to the treble solo in Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb (1948 – only contemporary in the world of classical music).
The lyrics were written by Christopher Smart in the 1700s, while he was incarcerated for religious mania.
For I will consider my cat, Jeoffrey
for he is the servant of the living God
duly and daily serving Him.
For at the first glance of the glory of God in the east,
he worships in his way.
For this is done by wreathing his body seven times round,
With elegant quickness.
For he knows that God is his saviour.
For God has blessed him in the variety of his movements.
For I am possessed of a cat, surpassing in beauty,
from whom I take occasion to bless Almighty God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWxi0CH9Dwg
No Local H? Lame.
My favorite song with the word “Cat” in the title. It’s quirky and playful, like its composer, and the character associated with it.
Smelly cat anyone?
Too obvious, I know, but here it is live:Kind of a two-fer there in the middle.
I think there could be a whole section on Shonen Knife cat songs, but this one is my fave:
Roy’s best song
So many songs for Henri…my fuzzy buddy.BuddybuddybuddybuddyBuddybuddybuddybuddyDon’t ever die.
My cat is named Henri too, good name.
My favorite cat song is “Wop-A-Din-Din” by Red House Painters.Of course, there’s also “Pussy” by Brazilian Girls.
Kitty on my foot and I want to touch it!
“ones explicitly about or at least anecdotally inspired by cats in their creators’ lives. That means their own pets…but also friends’ or feral cats”
Very few of the songs in these posts are about real cats. Come on, people!
Play them off, Keyboard Cat.
How else would you get an erection, my sad little dude?
Wow your joke doesn’t make sense. What a shocker. You’re like a particularly stupid 8 year old playing mad libs. And additionally you’re fat.Do you cry when you look at your disgusting body in the mirror?
What. The. Fuhhhhhh…. Where is ‘Wooly Bully’? That is probably the most famous song about a cat, like, EVER. I mean, I was tickled that you got ‘Lucifer Sam’ in there, and a little surprised, actually. Then I kept scrolling…and scrolling…and…no ‘Wooly Bully’. Harrumph.While not Sam the Sham & the Pharoahs best song (‘Ring Dang Doo’ or ‘I Wish it Were Me’…maybe ‘Little Red Riding Hood’?), it was absolutely a hit, and a big one at that. I say again, harrumph.
Sun Kil Moon ‘Track Number 8′ lists several cats; Monster Fluff; Half Fluff; No Fluff; and, Samhain.There are (many) Mark Kozelek cat mentions but Track #8 is the first that springs to mind.
“Wop-a-Din-Din” by Red House Painters, from 2001’s Old Ramon
no Meow the Jewels? no Venetian Snares – Songs About My Cats?
flawed list i say! flawed!
Wait..no Tommy the cat? Please..
I know it’s a little obscure (and ska is widely hated) but I was hoping for some love for Orange Boy by The Usuals
Happy to see Delilah on this list.Woody by Hayden is also an excellent song about a cat. Short, simple, heartfelt—and translatable to non cat relationships.
Weird… my 2nd Jane’s Addiction related post of the day on Kinja…
With regards to #13 – wasn’t the cat really named “Scallions”?OK, but before I see myself out, I would like to note that “Pangur Bán” was a real cat – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pangur_B%C3%A1n
Um. No love for this?