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Cats on Santorini

This song is a strange summer daydream. A few years ago my wife Olivia and I traveled to a couple islands in Greece, including Santorini. It was a majestic and iconic vacation. A peculiar thing there, familiar to anyone who has visited, was all the feral cats lounging around the harbor restaurants, winding streets and cliffside vistas. They may have been wild, but they were definitely living the good life. Somehow the phrase “Cats on Santorini” got lodged in my head, and eventually (upon returning home) I started playing with a simple blues-y piano line to go with it. 

But the real songwriting magic came when I started working with Bryan on the tune. He brought two crucial ingredients: first, a yacht-rock energy to the rhythm guitar. And second, a “mid life crisis" meets “call of the wild” take on the lyrics. The song's about getting out of the drudgery of the day to day and enjoying reckless abdication of responsibility.

Sadly my two cats Jonesy and Bowie will not be experiencing Santorini anytime soon, but they can keep dreaming about it.

It was a blast bringing this one to life, we hope you enjoy!

If you'd like to support the work directly, you can purchase the track from our The Lead Extras Bandcamp page: 

Links to listen: 

Credits:

  • Performed by - Drew Pictures & The Lead Extras
  • Music written by - Andrew Glor, Bryan Wolf
  • Lyrics written by - Andrew Glor, Bryan Wolf
  • Produced by - Andrew Glor, Bryan Wolf, Josh Wilson
  • Mixed & Mastered by - Kyle Holland
  • Vocals - Andrew Glor
  • Piano - Andrew Glor
  • Guitar - Bryan Wolf
  • Bass - Bryan Wolf
  • Drums - Josh Wilson
  • Accordion - Martin Kutnar
  • Cover Art - Helen Christine Gottberg

Lyrics:

Title: “Cats on Santorini”

I was torn about this nation and my relation to mankind
Ran rings around the circus to catch a falling knife
Burn out from the performance with my costume still screwed on
The devils in the details and the detail on my car is gone

The supersonic bender, the barely legal tender
The burnt and brittle bridges and the empty stained decanter
I’m a walking contradiction, a splendid kind of fiction
While away the hours blowing smoke rings in the kitchen
No you don't get me high no more no you don't get me high
You can bump some other lover down that pretty little line
And you really should have seen me with my lemon drop martini
I was scene-ing like Fellini with the cats on Santorini

Side eyes sent a message, critiquing my rough edges
These paper dreams aren’t what they seem, just sentimental tensions
Hogtied tied to my problems, The ropes that bind I gnawed them
These weathered hands in bandages are holding up and holding on

The dopamine temptations, the higher education
Changes my behavior in this restless occupation
I’m a victim of conviction, outside his jurisdiction
Piss away the hours swirling Assyrtiko in the kitchen
This shit don’t clear my mind no more, this shit don’t clear my mind
Don’t tell me not to grin at the scene of the crime 
Whoa you really should have seen me with my lemon drop martini
I was scene-ing like Fellini with the cats on Santorini, cats on Santorini

(Yea) I’ve cut away the ribbons on instincts and ambitions
Fading in the sun, basking in my indecision
You don’t seem surprised no more, no you don’t seem surprised
Strike me from the record, our memories fall in time
But you really should have seen me with my lemon drop martini
I was scene-ing like Fellini with the cats on Santorini, cats on Santorini