Album: Year Of The Cat (1976)

Charted: 42

License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• Speaking about this song with the BBC, Stewart explained: "The first verse is about the Basque Separatist movement and then the second verse is about what was then the Rhodesian crisis. Mugabe: 'The hand that sets the farms alight has spread the word to those who're waiting on the border.' Thirty years after I wrote the song, Mugabe was actually setting fire to all the white farms."
• The Spanish guitar on this track came courtesy of Peter White, who was brought in to play piano on the session. "First thing he ever recorded on a guitar," Stewart said in the same BBC interview. "First time he was ever in a studio. I hired him as a piano player and Alan Parsons, of course, produced the record and we were sitting around in the studio and he said, 'I can hear some Spanish guitar on this.'
  
  None of us could play Spanish guitar. And then Peter said, 'Well, I can play Spanish guitar.' And like, 'Wait, you're a piano player.' He said, 'Well, I can play it.'
  
  I had this really cheap Spanish guitar, it cost I think £30 or something and I gave it to Peter. What you hear is I think either the first or the second take. He just sat down and just played it and we're looking at him going, 'Wow, I didn't know you could do that.'"

Comments: 6

• Kdc from CanadaSpeaking about this song with the BBC, Stewart explained: "The first verse is about the Basque Separatist movement and then the second verse is about what was then the Rhodesian crisis. Mugabe: 'The hand that sets the farms alight has spread the word to those who're waiting on the border.' Thirty years after I wrote the song, Mugabe was actually setting fire to all the white farms."
• Juan Medina from Wilmington, NcI always thought this song was about the Rif War in Spanish Morocco: It fits perfectly!
• Former Spanish Grande from SpainWell, in modern Spanish history there was only one instance when "from Africa the winds they talk of changes coming" and, alas, it was when Franco's troops made it to Spain. "The hand that sets the farms alight has spread the word to those who're waiting on the border" is exactly what happened in 1936, the Franco supporters started it, just some weeks later Queipo de LLano and his troops conquered most of southern Spain.
• David from San DiegoI was surprised, no kind of shocked to learn that Peter White played the spanish guitar solo on this song. I've been listening to this song since its inception in the 70s, and always credited Al Stewart in my mind. Great song, nevertheless. Cinematic, with lyrics to match...
• Janet In Eastlake from Eastlake, OhioI love this ... even when speaking of something as awful as having one's farm burnt to the ground, his lyrics have a deft touch.
  
  I love the part of that goes:
  
  "Late last night the rain was knocking at my window
  I moved across the darkened room and in the lampglow
  I thought I saw down in the street
  The spirit of the century
  Telling us that we're all standing on the border."
  
  He paints such a vivid picture with those words ...
• Mary from WisconsinWhat a haunting tune with beautiful, mysterious lyrics! At first I thought it was about Spain in the 30s, but the Basque Separatist movement makes more sense. Looking back, it seems that Al Stewart, Gerry Rafferty, Steely Dan and a few others began taking music in a more interesting direction in the mid-to-late 80s...

More Songfacts:

Every Breath You TakeThe Police

Sting wrote "Every Breath You Take" at the same desk in Jamaica where Ian Fleming wrote his James Bond novels.

Somebody Like YouKeith Urban

When Keith Urban played "Somebody Like You" for his girlfriend, she called him a hypocrite because he "sucked at relationships."

My LifeBilly Joel

Billy Joel's "My Life" was used as the theme song to the 1980 TV show Bosom Buddies, which starred a young Tom Hanks as a guy who lives in a hotel for women by dressing up as a girl.

You Get What You GiveThe New Radicals

"You Get What You Give" by The New Radicals was the first hit song to use the word "frenemies" in the lyrics.

Don't ChaThe Pussycat Dolls

Sir Mix-A-Lot is credited as a writer on The Pussycat Dolls' biggest hit, "Don't Cha," because it interpolates his 1988 song "Swass," where he goes, "Don't you wish your boyfriend was swass like me?"

The Safety DanceMen Without Hats

The Men Without Hats lead singer wrote "The Safety Dance" after getting kicked out of a bar for dancing too aggressively. The song is literally about being safe to dance if you want to.

Editor's Picks

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.

TV Theme SongsFact or Fiction

Was a Beatles song a TV theme? And who came up with those Fresh Prince and Sopranos songs?

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Grunge Bands QuizMusic Quiz

If the name Citizen Dick means anything to you, there's a chance you'll get some of these right.