Sand in Your Shoes

The song *Sand in Your Shoes* by Al Stewart, with a duration of 3:04, is from the album Year of the Cat, released in 1976. This record, produced and engineered by Alan Parsons, reached the top positions on the charts in the United States. The album's success was boosted by the lead single, Year of the Cat, a composition that Stewart described as a story of a "mysterious woman." Another single released was On the Border, which reached number 47 in Canada.

What was particular about Stewart's creative process for this album, and for six others in his career, was that he completed all the music and orchestration before having a title for the pieces. He used to write up to four different versions of lyrics for each melody. In fact, the idea for the album's title track, Year of the Cat, originated from an earlier Stewart composition from 1966, titled Foot of the Stage, which already contained an early vision of the theme. Al Stewart, born in 1945 as Alastair Ian Stewart, is a British musician who became known for this work, consolidating his style of fusing folk-rock with historical narratives.