The legendary songwriter revisits his 1970 classic 50 years after its release.
Change is a recurring theme in the music ofCat Stevens.
Perhaps that’s because he’s gone through so many incarnations himself.
Credit: Jim McCrary/Redferns
In 1977 he underwent his most famous reinvention by adopting the Islamic faith and rejecting the entertainment industry.
Now he’s revisitingTea for the Tillerman, the seminal 1970 album that made him a global artistic force.
It was intimidating because the album is so successful and iconic."
Cat Stevens, later Yusuf Islam, standing outside Basing Street Studios in London in October, 1970. He releasedTillermanone month later.Michael Putland/Getty Images
“For me, that makes it what it means today.”
The sounds may have changed, but so has he.
The original album resonated with fans left disoriented by the tumult of the ’60s.
The album artwork forTea for the Tillerman²is an updated take on the original.A&M
“The major message is that one must follow one’s heart.
In the end, that’s you.
That’s your life.
“The major message is that one must follow one’s heart,” says Yusuf/Cat Stevens, of his seminal 1970 albumTea for the Tillerman.Rhys Fagan
Where Do the Children Play?
Will you tell us when to die?”
Lots of things there which have ominous meanings or implications.
That’s my reality now with my wife.
It brings it into focus who I am today.
Wild World
“Wild World” is probably the biggest departure [on the new record].
If you look at it alongside the original, it’s gone in a completely different direction.
I’ve made it slightly film-esque.
It’s kind of got a ’40s tilt to it.
Miles from Nowhere
A very important song.
It defines where I was at that particular time.
Once you’ve started this search for higher meaning, that never stops.
you’re able to’t I don’t think there’s an end to knowledge.
But that’s [still] me in the song.
That’s my bones.
That’s my inner construct.
It’s the same as looking at the foundation of a building.
You’ve got to have a foundation.
That’s what it is.
It’s what made me who I am.
We talk about corporate companies, and they’re getting bigger and more monstrous as time goes on.
Now they’re bigger and more powerful than governments!
Either you belong to a company or you don’t belong.
If you don’t belong to a company, you’re in the danger zone.
You’re likely to be wiped off.
That song is talking about people who feel that life is in somebody else’s hands.
You’ve got to take ownership, because you might die tonight.
That’s a very powerful message.
He wanted to use “Father and Son.”
So I tried to get out of it by saying I’ll write another song that was similar.
Longer Boats
I gave “Longer Boats” a new twist [onTea for the Tillerman2].
I’ve always loved R&B, so I just experimented with that song.
That’s how the song developed into something quite different.
So now I’ve revived that verse, which is talking about looking out at space.
It’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek, but it’s an interesting song.
It’s a very folky tune.
It paints a picturewhich I always tried to do with my songsbut it does it very vividly.
I was always a fan of Van Gogh, and that’s my Van Gogh tribute in a way.
For sure, you see another dimension.
Pickup a good book now."
Before I received any book, I was writing about this book that was going to change my life.
Father and Son
A very, very important, profound song.
I’ve talked about change in lots of songs.
I wrote a song once called “Changes IV.”
That’s kind of the opposite to what “Father and Son” is saying.
From the son’s point of view, your father can’t see it the wayyousee it.
It’s a kind of conflict, but it talks about change.
The father doesn’t want change.
And the son’s whole life has been about change up until that point.
That’s what youth is.It’s great.
You’ll find something better.
They’re just listening to streaming music and playing with their mobile phones.
Pollution is affecting this world, and he’s still optimistic.
Behind him is a massive, white, gleaming moon.
Even in the darkness, God has given us something to lighten our way.
It’s a symbol of that.
In the last words of that song he’s stretching and reaching out for a happy day.
I love that song.
And I love the Tillerman.
