Cat Stevens: Thing

“Here's a chance, I think, for us to kind of remind ourselves, of those things we all commonly enjoy and love and share, try to get back together.”

Cat Stevens

Interview on CBS News Sunday Morning (30 November 2006)
Context: Here's a chance, I think, for us to kind of remind ourselves, of those things we all commonly enjoy and love and share, try to get back together. You know, singing out for a more peaceful world today, I think, can only do good. … I do believe that … a lot of Muslims have yet to learn, you know, the incredible great history and contribution of Islamic civilization — and its become very, if you like, in some way puritanical — that puritanical approach will become narrower and narrower and even become more fragmented. Its that vast middle ground where people actually live, you know, that we have to reclaim; and in that area, everybody should be able to live together. And I don't think that God sent us prophets and books to fight about these books and these prophets. But they were telling us, actually, how to live together. If we ignore those teachings — whichever faith you belong, you profess, then I think we'll be finding ourselves in an even deeper mess.

Love , Thinking , Chance

“I wrote a song called "Father & Son" about the son running off to do his own thing. Now the story is about my son coming back and bringing a guitar into the house. A couple of years ago, one morning after prayers, his guitar was lying around. I picked it up and my fingers knew exactly where to go. I'd written some words and when I put them to music, it moved me and I realized I could have another job to do. Things just grew from there.”

Cat Stevens

On producing new music, after shunning the music business for over two decades, as quoted in "The Billboard Q and A: Yusuf Islam" by Nigel Williamson, in Billboard Magazine (17 November 2006)

Music , Lying , Housing

“Don’t you remember the days
Of the old schoolyard
When we had imaginings and we had
All kinds of things and we laughed
And needed love … yes, I do
Oh and I remember you”

Cat Stevens

(Remember The Days Of The) Old Schoolyard
Song lyrics, Izitso (1977)

Love , Imagination

“I wanted a break. I had been on the road more or less since I was 18, you know? And I hadn't known any other life, other than, you know, hotel rooms and concerts and records and studios and press conferences. … and to me, here was a chance to jump off that kind of wagon and see life for real. You know, actually my last album was called Back to Earth. So that was the meaning of it. I wanted to join the human race again. I didn't want to be a star. I didn't want to continue with that thing, because so much illusion and non-reality is connected to it. I wanted to be real. And so I — I kind of — I found an opportunity. And the actual point about music was — the imam who I met and who I first embraced Islam with in London's Central Mosque, he actually told me to continue making records.”

Cat Stevens

On the abandonment of his music career after converting to Islam, on Larry King Live (7 October 2004) http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0410/07/lkl.01.html

Life , Music , Star , Reality

“Now I've been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun. Oh, I've been smiling lately
Dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be
Someday it's going to come.”

Cat Stevens

Peace Train - Earth Tour performance (1976) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjSHazjrWg - 2006 performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7wEctHyuc0 - Nobel Concert (2006) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7iLPnDCQ1g
Song lyrics, Teaser and the Firecat (1971)

World , Smile , Dreams , Thinking

“Now I’m not making love to anyone’s wishes,
Only for that light I see
‘Cause when I’m dead and lowered low in my grave,
That’s gonna be the only thing that’s left of me”

Cat Stevens

Sitting
Song lyrics, Catch Bull at Four (1972)

Love , Making love , Light , Dead

“Yesterday I was on the edge
Hoping everything was going to work itself out
A good honest man doing the work of God
Trying to make things better for Him
A lover of life in a school for fools
Trying to find another way to survive”

Cat Stevens

Music
Song lyrics, Buddha and the Chocolate Box (1974)

Life , God , School , Hope

“It seems to be the easiest thing in the world these days to make scurrilous accusations against Muslims, and in my case it directly impacts on my relief work and damages my reputation as an artist. The harm done is often difficult to repair.”

Cat Stevens

As quoted in "Singer Islam gets libel damages" BBC News (15 February 2005) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4268651.stm

World

“Rather than go to a demonstration to burn an effigy of the author Salman Rushdie, I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing.”

Cat Stevens

As quoted in "Cat Stevens Gives Support To Call for Death of Rushdie," by Craig R. Whitney, in The New York Times (23 May 1989), p. C18 http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/04/18/specials/rushdie-cat.html

Hope

“Sing a song of love and truth
We’ll soon remember if you do
When all things were tall
And our friends were small
And the world was new”

Cat Stevens

Silent Sunlight
Song lyrics, Catch Bull at Four (1972)

Love , Truth , World , Singing

“All the times that I’ve cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it”

Cat Stevens

Father and Son
Song lyrics, Tea for the Tillerman (1970)

Time

“Well, if you want to sing out, sing out,
And if you want to be free, be free.
'Cause there's a million things to be,
You know that there are.”

Cat Stevens

If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, originally recorded for the 1971 film Harold and Maude
Song lyrics, Footsteps in the Dark: Greatest Hits (1984)

Singing