Smooth Sailing: Sweet September Sadness

In these last days of September we are sailing away from the summer and moving straight into the autumn… Enjoy this slightly melancholic Smooth Sailing trip!

Year of the Cat, the seventh studio album by British singer Al Stewart, was produced and engineered by Alan Parsons, who would later become known for his Alan Parsons Project. The title track, described by AllMusic as "one of those 'mysterious woman' songs", peaked at #8 on the Billboard singles chart in the spring of 1977. The other single from the album, On the Border, can be heard on this cloudcast. According to the singer the lyrics are about “the decline and fall of the British empire”. The first lines are about Basque freedom fighters:

“The fishing boats go out across the evening water
Smuggling guns and arms across the Spanish border
The wind whips up the waves so loud
The ghost moon sails among the clouds
Turns the rifles into silver on the border”

The song reached #42 in the United States and #5 in the Netherlands.

Tracklist:

Jinsang – September Rain (2017)
Joe Thomas – Let Me Be The One (1979)
Ray Barretto - Summer Sun (1978)
Randy Crawford – Same Old Story (1980)
Diane Tell – Je Suis En Amour (1980)
Carol Ray Band – Quelques Mots Gentils (1983)
Full Flava Feat. Chantay Savage ‎– September (2006)
Marcos Valle – Estrelar (1983)
Rupert Holmes – So Beautiful It Hurts (1978)
Hal Bradbury – You Win, I Lose (1980)
Robert Kraft – I Wonder What You're Like (1982)
Air Supply ‎– Lost In Love (1982)
Michael Franks ‎– Comin' Home To You (1982)
Michael Miglio – Never Gonna Let You Go (1980)
Sneaker – Jaymes (1981)
Steely Dan ‎– Here At The Western World (1978)
Al Stewart – On The Border (1977)
Jazon Mraz – The Woman I Love (2015)
Chris Stills – This Summer Love (2017)
The Shins – September (2012)