Me and You and a Dog Named Boo, and Two Cats Too

In the same era as Cat Stevens’ “Moon Shadow” from yesterday, we go to a top ten song from 1971 that you are probably familiar with. It’s on my mind this morning because Eliot has been behind again on his hair cuts and is getting a spring shave down today. I need to get better on staying non top of his mane before it starts to matt up. In truth, we’re just going to have to get him on a regular schedule so it doesn’t get put off.

Boo is one of his many nicknames, along with Bear, Bug Bear, Bubby, and Muppet. The other two fur balls in the house are Oscar who is about the same age as Eliot (2 years) and the veteran, 15-year old Milton who tolerates the youngsters as best he can.

I imagine Roland Kent Lavoie’s life became a bit easier after he became known as just Lobo, which is Spanish for wolf, not to be confused with the Lobo of DC Comics. His music certainly became well known and loved. This song hit number five in the US top 100, charted in the UK and helped lead him toward popularity in New Zealand and Southeast Asia as well. He may not be traveling and living off the land these days, but he’s still out there at 81 years of age, and hopefully still singing.

Go Away, Song of the Day Gets Catty

Milton, my oldest cat used to come and lie down on my chest when I got into bed at night. I would pet him, and when I stopped he would plea for more by placing a furry paw on my chin until I started to pet him again. We’d go through that cycle several times before I’d say, “Okay, Daddy’s done. It’s time to sleep.” After pawing my chin one or two more times and getting no result, he would move off and sleep somewhere else on the bed, and eventually somewhere else entirely, presumably because I probably toss and turn to much.

The last two years, we have had first a new puppy dog and a younger cat, and so except for rare instances when he figures he has me to himself without being bothered by the newbies, Milton sleeps on the kitchen table (don’t worry, we put his cat bed there when we couldn’t get him to sleep anywhere else. And now we have two cat beds and a cat tower. I don’t think we’re in charge anymore.

What does happen now, usually around four in the morning, is that I am awakened by hearing Milton “talking,” yeowling from the kitchen. He doesn’t seem to be in pain, he just seems to want to be heard. So, I thought, we needed some night cat music representation on Song of the Day.

You’ve probably already seen the cat on TikTok and Instagram who sounds like he’s saying, “Sometimes I’m Alone. Sometimes I’m not. Hello?” Well, a musician who goes by Kiffness on YouTube started doing remixes and duets with different cats, including the wonderful, “Hold On to My Fur, I Like it. When the Dogs Are Barking.” Both of those are a hoot, and well worth your Friday time to listen to.

The featured song and video today includes a second musician who joins in and creates a trio, featuring Spaul on the guitar. If you need an internet rabbit hole—cat hole?—to go down and forget your worries today, cat songs are well worth it, and in my opinion, they deserve a spot on Jeff’s Song of the Day. I would call it instrumental, but technically, there is singing, including the cat.

So, here we go with “Please Go Away, Flamenco Edition.” As the video description says: “A South African producer 🇿🇦 collaborating with an Italian guitarist 🇮🇹 & a Middle Eastern cat 🇦🇪, making a Spanish style song 🇪🇸. This is what the internet is for!”