LYRICS TO CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER WINDOWS

In his Box of Rain, Hunter writes: 'Nobody ever asked me the meaning of this song.

It's good that a few things in this world are clear to allof us.' People seem to know exactly whatI'm talking about. In an interview in Golden Road (Spring, 1991, p. 29) Hunter says: ' 'China Cat' took a long time to write. I wrote it in different settings and added this andthat to it. I'd have to admit that before you could trace it back that there was someinfluence.' It was originally inspired by Dame Edith Sitwell, who had a way with words-I like theidea of quick, clicky assonance and alliteration like 'See me dance the polka, said Mr.Wag like a bear, with my top hat and my whiskers, that tra-la-la trapped affair.' I just like theway she put things together. The Dame Edith Sitwell poem quoted by Hunter goes like this: Polka'Tra la la la la la la la (Sitwell's influence on this song may also be found in the closing line.) Stand Venus' children in their gay frocks. This note from a reader: Subject: china cat sunflower Like Wellington, Byron, the Marquis of Bristol,īut he finds fresh isles in a Negress' smiles. Now to a couple of notes about China Cat. First, people may want to knowthat the poem Polka, that Hunter cites has been set to music, along withabout 40 other Sitwell poems by the British composer William Walton(1902-1983). 'Polka' appears in a piece for reciter and chamber ensemblecalled 'Facade.' There are many recordings of the music, which is funny andironic, but not many with reciter. There was one on London with Jeremy Ironsbut I think that it's out of print now. I believe that there is a recordingwith Sitwell doing the reciting on EMI or Pearl but I'm not sure. In anyevent anyone interested in some wonderfully witty word fantasys, and somedroll music should try to hear this piece.Īnd in David Gans' Conversations with the Dead,Hunter says: 'I think the germ of came in Mexico, on Lake Chapala.I don't think any of the words came, exactly-the rhythms came. I had a cat sitting on my belly, and was in a rather hypersensitive state,and I followed this cat out to-I believe it was Neptune-and there wererainbows across Neptune, and cats marching across the rainbow. 24Ĭhina CatThis note from a reader: Date: Thu, 14:57:11 -0400 This cat tookme in all these cat places there's some essence of that in the song.' -p.

LYRICS TO CHINA CAT SUNFLOWER WINDOWS

Great website! Just wanted to mention something which you probably haveheard many times before: I believe the 'China Cat' in China CatSunflower refers to the beckoning porcelain cats that adorn the front windows ofJapanese restaurants and teahouses, etc. The figure is called is knownas Maneki Neko and is believed to bring customers and wealth to amerchant's establishment. The legend of the Maneki Neko is that a traveling man,who was sitting out a storm under a tree one day, was beckoned to the porchof a nearby temple by a cat that appeared to be waving to him.

Lyrics to china cat sunflower