Year of the Tiger Playlist: songs [loosely] about cats including "Say So" by Doja Cat ft. Nicki Minaj, Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Amala Ratana Zandile Dlamini was born to a Jewish mother and a Zulu father, who, according to him returned to South Africa in hopes of his family following him, but according to Dlamini, a.k.a Doja Cat, he abandoned his family. Doja Cat produced music on Soundcloud at the beginning of her career. In 2019, her single "Say So," today's representative song topped the Billboard Hot 100. What the hell is a doja cat? I thought. I certainly was getting too old to keep up with pop music. Turns out, three years later, "Say So," is hella catchy. And with an interesting Wikipedia page full of lived experience, I wonder if there's a little treasure in a discography that, to me, originally just sounded like music for cats in heat. Time will tell.

YOU AIN'T COMIN' OUT YOUR SHELL. We're entering another playlist-heavy month, and to kick it off, I'm sharing my AppleMusic playlist I created several years ago about cats. Why cats? It was kind of a gift to my partner. Why do I share this playlist today? Today is the first day of the Lunar Year. Countries that use a lunar calendar such as China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea celebrate what in many countries is called Chinese New Year. In Korea, the day is called Seollal (설날). The Chinese Zodiac says this is the year of the tiger, so let's celebrate this year with our feline friends. I'll post the playlist and comment on the original songs in the playlist. I might add songs as I discover more in my listening:

1. "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. Sylvester Stallone personally commissioned the band to write a song like the band's first Top 40 hit, "Poor Man's Son" and Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" for Rocky III.

2. "Year of the Cat" by Al Stewart is a beautiful song from the Alan Parson-produced album.

3. "Cat" by Relient K imagines the band practicing in the garage and a rough-looking street cat wonders in. Singer Matt Thiessen admires the cat and compares himself to it. Check out my post about this song for September 13, 2022.

4. "Honky Cat" by Taron Egerton & Richard Madden is a cover of Elton John's hit and appeared in the biopic Rocketman.

5. "Alley Cat" by Sherwood is a synth-y, Owl-City era song. The speaker spends the time complaining that someone, presumably a girl, is practically feral.

6. "Cat" by Nell is a '90s-sounding song about ambivalence, the way that cats are ambivalent.

7. "Tiger Teeth" by Paper Route is a fun '80s grooving song.

8. "Now That I Found You" by Carly Rae Jepsen. The lyrics of the song would lead listeners to believe that this song is about a man, but the video makes the song about a cat. Does it work?

9. "Can't Hug Every Cat" by The Gregory Brothers ft. Cara Hartmann. Check out the post I wrote last February.

10. "Say So" by Doja Cat. Today's representative song. Oh and there's a tiger in the music video. 

11. "Roar" by Katy Perry references the Survivor song. I've used this song to help my students work on r and l pronunciation. "You're gonna hear me roar!" Check out the hilarious music video below:

12. "My Bad" by Advanced ft. Shaun. The line in Korean about living with three cats and a dog in a small apartment. Kind of cute.

13. "Lion Heart" by Girls' Generation is a classic-sounding girl group song. 

14. "Night of the Hunter" by Thirty Seconds to Mars. Check out the cover to the left.

15. "Paper Tigers" by Thrice. A "paper tiger" comes from the Chinese word zhilaohu (simplified: 纸老虎, traditional: 紙老虎) meaning someone who appears threatening, but is actually weak.

16. "The Resistance" by Anberlin. Speaking of paper tigers. Check out my post from last January on this song. 

17. "Lions of the Kalahari" by Sam Roberts.

Born to South African immigrants, the Canadian rock star wishes to return to the dust via lion when his time comes.

18. "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. "Two cats in the yard." As of today, this song was still on Spotify following Neil Young's protest against the Swedish streaming company. 

 

19. "Wild World" by Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam). Yes, I picked this song because of the artist's name. It certainly was a great season finale for the first season of Skins. 

20. "Lionhearted" by Billie Marten. Another chosen due to the title.

21. "Lion's Mane" by Iron & Wine. Another calm song for the coffee shop/lazy afternoon section of the playlist.

22. "Take It All Back" (String Quartet Op. 9 in C Major) by Judah & the Lion. When you're a Christian rock group fronted by a man named Judah Akers, naming your band after the Lion of Judah seems pretty smart. 

21. "Year of the Tiger" by Sufjan Stevens from his instrumental album based on the Chinese Zodiac, Enjoy Your Rabbit. 

Read “Say So” by Doja Cat on Genius