Harmony or chords of Year of the Cat - Steward, Wood

Key is E minor ie all notes white or natural keys except F (Fa) which is sharp.


In the beginning and many other times in the song the bass goes C then D then E.


And bass number code is:


C7
D6
E


Which means:


C E G B
D D F B
E E G B
(Remember F is #F)


How is this so beautiful code derived?


By avoiding cosectutive or parallel fifths. which sound, cheap, boring, wrong to the human brain.
B, (Si) the top note is constant or pedal creating those very interesting intervals with the step by step descending bass.


C B (major 7th)
D B (major 6th)
E B (perfect fifth)


The 3rds with respect to bass are added [Bach, Niedt], in order to make the dissonant very interesting intervals sound fantastic. So we have:


C E B
D F B
E G B


This is a similar progression to
Nights in White Satin - Moody Blues


or


Julia - Pavlov's Dog
(Where choir sings, "please, please see..."



Other bass code in the song is A7, ie A C E G, D4 ie D A D G etc.


Reference, further reading:


Bach Bass Rules - Bach, Niedt - PDF


Harmony - Piston