Cat
Stevens has always been one of my favorite singer/composers. His first five
albums were bliss. He became a little more hit-and-miss after that, but I still
find something to listen to on every album.
Cat, born of Greek parentage in England, has been on a long
journey: he was a Buddhist for a long time, then Baha’i, and now Muslim. He
even changed his name to Yusuf Islam (though Cat Stevens wasn’t his real name
either; he was born Steven Demetre Georgiou).
He has always been unapologetic about voicing his beliefs.
He got into trouble some years ago for mixing himself up with the whole Salman
Rushdie / fatwa thing.
But there has always been a freshness and purity in his music.
And he is often strangely profound, and he is also often powerfully spiritual.
This song (in live performance in 1976) is all of the above:
fresh, pure, profound, and spiritual. And I still find it powerfully moving.
Ev’rybody jump upon the peace train.
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