frankie’s guide to songs about cats

They’re cute, they’re funny and (when they feel like it) they smother us with love – no wonder cats have inspired some of our favourite tunes. Unsurprisingly, there are a tonne of songs about kitties ready to pump into our ear holes, but these five are rather lovely – or just plain weird.



Love Cats – The Cure

It makes sense that Robert Smith would sing about cats. He seems to sport some feline genes himself, given the way he prowls and slinks about in the video clip for this song. Like most Cure tracks, “Love Cats” is probably not actually about cats, but a relationship that Ol’ Bob was a tad too intense about. In any case, this recording later featured in a cat food commercial.

I Am A Cat – Shonen Knife

Way back in issue 63 we asked Shonen Knife frontwoman Naoko Yamano what this song was about – turns out it was about feeling like a cat. Simple as that. “Cats are very creative animals,” she explained. “Their lifestyle is very interesting, always sleeping and very selfish. I like that.” Us too, Naoko. Us too.



Cat People (Putting Out Fire With Gasoline) – David Bowie

This cut from Bowie’s most commercially successful album, Let’s Dance, is not about ‘cat people’ in the sense of ‘cat people’ versus ‘dog people’, but people who actually turn into cats – or ‘werecats’ – and was originally recorded for the 1982 movie Cat People. That’s a whole lot of moggy love.



Phenomenal Cat – The Kinks

This little known song by ‘60s rockers The Kinks is about a cat that eats its way “through eternity” and consequently gains a whole lot of weight. He also travels around and collects life insights, as well. So it’s a pretty cool cat, as it were. It’s easy to see why history left this one in the back corner of the attic, but it’s also worth revisiting if you’re in the mood for a bit of old-school psychedelia.

Mean Eyed Cat – Johnny Cash

There are two kinds of Johnny Cash songs: those that rip your heart out, and those that have you swivelling your hips like your grandparents back in the day. This song falls squarely into the latter category. It’s all about his relationship difficulties with a certain woman who ditches him. The cat in question belongs to this bailer, and gives Johnny whisker-crowned death stares.