1980Released
4:46

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about An Cat Dubh. By Songfacts®.

"An Cat Dubh" is Gaelic for "The Black Cat." English is the common language in Ireland, but schoolchildren are also required to learn Gaelic. Bono never picked it up though - in 2011 there was an awkward moment when he met Queen Elizabeth II and she spoke some Gaelic to him, which he didn't understand. The song's lyrics are all in English.

Bono sings about a cat and a blackbird in this song, but never gets too specific. He admitted, "It's definitely about sex," and in the book U2 By U2, elaborated: "This image of temptation, a cat sleeping beside a dead bird in suburban Dublin, and playing with it, the way they do, cat stalks the bird, kills it, and then shakes it about. And somehow knowing the sexual side of that, desire and innocence, and the way it can play with you."

The third track on U2's debut album, Boy, "An Cat Dubh" segues together with the next track, "Into The Heart." For live performances, the band always played them together.

Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of An Cat Dubh.
F♯Key
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
115BPM

Album

The album An Cat Dubh is released on.
BoyU2
1980

Released By

The record label that has released An Cat Dubh.
Universal-Island Records Ltd.
© 1980 Universal-Island Records Ltd.
℗ 1980 Universal-Island Records Ltd.

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