Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
I watch my yellow cat
Invade my red cat in the yard
The feline war has raged for years
So I assume it'd be too hard
For me to drive my foot between them
I would never risk the scratch
Just to prove to one or both of them
A cat is just a cat
Again, I watch my cousin greg
Watch mtv inside his home
He makes fun of the hip hop videos
From the couch he rides alone
Snug in the cushion of his cackling
He forgets his living doubts
He has relied on this for years
You will not yank the carpet out
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay
I watch this dude
Each night, same table
He creates and crumples up
His eyes are wide from sipping endlessly
His endless coffee cup
He feeds me quotes
That lonely goat
I watch him grazing by himself
I will not stop him when he rambles
I'm becoming one myself
Lou is bugged
Shot up with drugs
He sweats this bird he hardly knows
All that he wants is to see someone
He respects without their clothes
So like some hybrid mother/lover
She'd soothe and heal his wounds
And kiss those dying ears so softly
That the reaper stops to swoon
Oh please
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay
These are my friends
This is who they remain forever
This is how we stay
I watch my neighbor's son
Play with his shotgun in the street
I think I'll blaze all day
And marvel at the massive food I eat
It's strange, I'm skinny when I'm standing
But I'm buddha when I sit
And if I'm truly so enlightened
Why'd I waste your time on it
As I look back at countless crossroads
And the middle where I stay
Right up the beaten path to boredom
Where the fakest fucks get laid
By the faux-finest finds
It's been that way
God damn you, how you stay
With every scummy, crummy hour
Of the scummy, crummy day
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay
These are my friends
This is who they remain forever
This is how we stay
Invade my red cat in the yard
The feline war has raged for years
So I assume it'd be too hard
For me to drive my foot between them
I would never risk the scratch
Just to prove to one or both of them
A cat is just a cat
Again, I watch my cousin greg
Watch mtv inside his home
He makes fun of the hip hop videos
From the couch he rides alone
Snug in the cushion of his cackling
He forgets his living doubts
He has relied on this for years
You will not yank the carpet out
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay
I watch this dude
Each night, same table
He creates and crumples up
His eyes are wide from sipping endlessly
His endless coffee cup
He feeds me quotes
That lonely goat
I watch him grazing by himself
I will not stop him when he rambles
I'm becoming one myself
Lou is bugged
Shot up with drugs
He sweats this bird he hardly knows
All that he wants is to see someone
He respects without their clothes
So like some hybrid mother/lover
She'd soothe and heal his wounds
And kiss those dying ears so softly
That the reaper stops to swoon
Oh please
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay
These are my friends
This is who they remain forever
This is how we stay
I watch my neighbor's son
Play with his shotgun in the street
I think I'll blaze all day
And marvel at the massive food I eat
It's strange, I'm skinny when I'm standing
But I'm buddha when I sit
And if I'm truly so enlightened
Why'd I waste your time on it
As I look back at countless crossroads
And the middle where I stay
Right up the beaten path to boredom
Where the fakest fucks get laid
By the faux-finest finds
It's been that way
God damn you, how you stay
With every scummy, crummy hour
Of the scummy, crummy day
These are my friends
This is who they have been for always
These are my days
This is how they stay
These are my friends
This is who they remain forever
This is how we stay
Lyrics submitted by AllStarMe, edited by Rude Boy EEEE
Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat Lyrics as written by Max Bemis
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i don't think that the cat's symbolize something as major as wars, but something more like fights. max sees a pushy person instigate yet another fight with another person. the pushy one has been a bully, for lack of a better word, for a very long time. i took it that max gets that people could actually help solve other's problems, but we're all just too lazy and apathetic or we fear being hurt in the process; it is insignificant to help because we are only people who are rather pointless and doomed in the end. i love this cynicism.
the rest just means that we accept everything, like stoners, no sleep, racism, etc. we could do so many things to help others, but max writes like nobody tries or cares because we are all amazingly selfish, lazy, and the only person important to us is ourselves.
this is my second favorite song on the album.