1. Cat's Eyes, a… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least two bands under the name Cat's Eyes:
1. Cat's Eyes, a dream-pop duo that began in the early 2010s.
2. Cats Eyes, a psychedelic rock band active from 1968 to 1970.
1. Cat's Eyes is the dream pop duo of Faris Badwan, frontman for UK indie rockers The Horrors, and the Canadian opera soprano and multi-instrumentalist Rachel Zeffira. The group specializes in a glassy, symphonic take on sixties girl-group pop and playing at unusual locations: their first performance was at the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, during an afternoon mass "attended by seven high-ranking cardinals".
Their eponymous debut album was released in 2011, followed by the soundtrack for Peter Strickland's film The Duke of Burgundy (2015) and Treasure House (2016).
http://www.catseyesmusic.com/
2. Cats Eyes was a psychedelic rock band active between 1968 to 1970. Emerging from the UK, Evesham specifically, Cats Eyes originally formed under the name "The Suite" in March 1967 with founding members Doug Alcock, on drums and vocals, Roger Banning, on saxophone and flute, Dave Busby, on lead guitar and vocals, and W. "Fil" Filby, on rhythym guitar and lead vocals. Busby also played with "Terry Webb and The Spiders," a band that included a young John Bonham on drums. Roy Banks, bass guitarist and vocalist who later joined "The Suite," was from another local group called "The Sapphires," who had Jim Capaldi, from Traffic, on vocals. Banks also performed with "The Wavelengths" who had Luther Grosvenor, later in Mott the Hoople, on lead guitar.
The Suite were originally signed by the Derek Bruce Agency and managed by Clive Wells. In December 1967, The Suite auditoned for Cliff Brittle, from Stoke-on-Trent, at Domino Recording Studios in Albrighton, Staffordshire. This lead to a record deal with Deram records and management by Brittle. In May 1968, The Suite became Cats Eyes. All of their recordings were done at Domino Recording Studios in Albrighton, with Andy McLachlan being the engineer on these recording sessions. Cats Eyes performed frequently at multiple venues, even appearing on BBC Radio One over 300 whopping times. The majority of the band's BBC recordings were done at multiple locations in Birmingham, which caused them to be associated not with Evesham, but Birmingham instead.
Cats Eyes performed alongside Pink Floyd during their early years, with songs "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play" being in the setlist. Alcock recalls that Pink Floyd were once paid to end their set early due to the pop-oriented audience's dissatisfaction with their progressive music and psychedelic images projecting during their performance. Afterward, Cats Eyes were brought back on the stage to play for the time cut short by Pink Floyd's exit for the evening.
Cats Eyes' debut single, "Smile Girl For Me/In A Fantasy World" was released in May 1968, the first of three with the Deram label. Roger Banning and Fil Filby composed the A side, while Filby composed the B Side. Filby's name was misspelled on the label. In October 1968, Cats Eyes' released their second single, "I Thank You Marianne/Turn Around," both sides of which were composed entirely by Filby. Cats Eyes released their third single, "Where Is She Now/Tom Drum," in April 1969, taking influence from U.S. band Turtles. Soon afterward, on May 17, 1969, Cats Eyes performed on the short-lived BBC 2's "Colour Me Pop" TV Show. Cats Eyes have also appeared on other TV shows such as "Lift Off With Ayshea" and Granada TV's "Discotheque."
In late 1969, the band signed with MCA records who went on to release their fourth single, "The Loser/Circus" in January 1970. Cats Eyes released their fifth single "Come Away Melinda/Cirrus," in April 1970, the A-Side of which was featured in a short film shown at a film festival. During the summer of 1970, Cats Eyes traveled to Germany and performed at Hamburg's Top Ten Club for six weeks. The band's sixth single, "The Wizard/Hey (Open Your Eyes)," was released in October 1970. Alcock states that though this single produces a different sound compared to their previous releases, it still focuses on the band's vocal capabilities.
By 1971, Cats Eyes went under different monikers, but still went by Cats Eyes when performing live. One of these seperate names was "Spode," and during their time as Spode, they re-signed with Decca records. The first single released under the name Spode was "Singalong Song/Cincinatti Woman," released in March 1971. Roger Banning left the group shortly thereafter, in April 1971. Banning released a single, "Breakaway Man/Brotherhood," under the name "Toby Jug," before releasing two Spode singles, "Funny Kind Of Feeling/Catch It While You Can," and "Angelina/Happy This Way."
W. Fil Filby left Spode in February 1972, and was replaced by Keith Ratford. Soon after, Spode went by another name, "Barlaston Down," with their first and only release under this name being was "Always/Mean Woman Mambo," with the A-side being credited as "Barlaston Down Featuring Barry Joe Palmer." The group disbanded in August 1972.
In 1986, Cats Eyes reunited with Doug Alcock, Roy Banks, Dave Busby, and W. Fil Filby and remained active until 2012 when the band retired after years of performing locally. W. Fil Filby passed away from cancer in May 2014.
Drag
Cat's Eyes Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Of what few remained
I thought that they would come round
But they'll say your name
And that you're dragging me down
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
You only show me how
And I (?)
But as I hum to you through the crowd
They threatened to tell
Why you've been dragging me down
Why you've been dragging me down
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They
"Don't Drag Me Down" is a song about a tumultuous relationship that is causing strain on the singer's friendships. The opening lines, "My friends all say I've changed/Of what few remained" suggest that the singer has lost some of their friends due to their relationship. Despite this, the singer holds out hope that their friends will come around, but every time their partner's name comes up, the friends accuse the partner of dragging the singer down. The repeated line "The things we do when we're together/If they ever knew/They would keep us apart" highlights the secretive nature of the relationship and the fear that it would be torn apart if anyone knew the truth.
The song is a melancholic and haunting ballad, with sparse instrumentation that allows for the vocals to take center stage. The repeating chorus adds to the feeling of being trapped, as if the singer is caught in a cycle of behavior that they cannot escape from. The repeated line "They would keep us apart" feels like a sentence, with the singer resigned to their fate.
Overall, "Drag" is a song that captures the feeling of being in a relationship that is not healthy, but feeling powerless to leave. The fear of losing friends, the secrecy, and the repetitiveness of the chorus all add to the sense of being trapped.
Line by Line Meaning
My friends all say I've changed
My close associates have observed differences in my behavior
Of what few remained
Those who were once my friends have become a shortage
I thought that they would come round
I believed that they would eventually accept me as I am
But they'll say your name
However, they utter your name with disdain
And that you're dragging me down
They imply that you are negatively affecting my life
The things we do when we're together
The actions we engage in when we are in each other's company
If they ever knew
If my friends ever found out
They would keep us apart
They would prevent us from being together
You only show me how
You are the one who demonstrates to me how to do things
And I (?)
I may not understand everything completely
But as I hum to you through the crowd
Nonetheless, as I sing a tune to you in a noisy environment
They threatened to tell
Some people warned me that they would expose our relationship
Why you've been dragging me down
They would reveal that you have been negatively affecting me
They would keep us apart
They would end our relationship
They would keep us apart
They would obstruct our connection
They would keep us apart
They would prevent us from being together
They would keep us apart
They would refrain us from being in each other's company
They would keep us apart
They would maintain a distance between us
Contributed by Juliana T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@luisnajle6403
My friends all say I've changed
Of what few remained
I thought that they would come round
But they'll say your name
And that you're dragging me down
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
You only show me how
And I (?)
But as I hum to you through the crowd
They threatened to tell
Why you've been dragging me down
Why you've been dragging me down
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They
@SheenHunter-SeattleFreeze
Well, unexpectedly, this left me smiling. What a duo.
@kjladfsjljadf5933
What a great looking duo. Not expected any of this but the song is ace.
@lilyallen4president
Her scream at the end literally made my blood run cold. So good.
@iyamoquarsanchezmendez3169
Personajes asombrosos, valor de transmitir el amor tal y como es en todos los aspectos
@GreatLakesDrifta
Just discovered this song today, liked it so much I listened to it like 8 times already. Sounds modern but also like something that would have come out in the mid 60s. I absolutely love it. Didn't expect the video to be this dark but that was also well done.
@nickdirienzo2849
Amazing video. That, that was brutal. Kudos to the sound techs on the fight scenes.
@luisnajle6403
My friends all say I've changed
Of what few remained
I thought that they would come round
But they'll say your name
And that you're dragging me down
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
You only show me how
And I (?)
But as I hum to you through the crowd
They threatened to tell
Why you've been dragging me down
Why you've been dragging me down
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
The things we do when we're together
If they ever knew
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They would keep us apart
They
@Piixeeh
This song became the soundtrack of my days these past few weeks.
@tonybates813
A very powerful video and an excellent track.
@anselmoecheverria6342
Es como el vídeoclip de esta canción "Drag" tras una balada dulce se esconden otras muchas cosas, más oscuras. Pop psicodélico y guiños a los girl groups de los 60. Cuando surgió hace unos años el proyecto de Cat's Eyes compuesto por Faris Badwan y la soprano canadiense Rachel Zeffira, aquello se antojaba un pasatiempo del cantante de The Horrors, pero su primer álbum ya convenció y después la banda sonora que compuso el dúo para "The Duke of burgundy" hacía aventurar que podría tener continuidad. Este segundo disco ahonda en ese concepto con el que la pareja nos regala un excelente trabajo. oscuro y bello a partes iguales. En temas como: "Be Careful where you park your car",
"Girl in the room" y "Stardoff" dan en el blanco con arreglos preciosos. Cat's Eyes construyen su discurso con arreglos preciosistas, para canciones por momentos estupendas.
Música independiente novedades.