SamSungDay 12

Since yesterday was Atheist Day ‘24, it seemed only right to do a tune by a devout fellow such as Yusuf / Cat Stevens to combat the rise of scientific dogmatic. BEWARE the priests in lab coats.

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‘Tea for the Tillerman’ came out 20 years before I was born and from then til now I’ve found myself seeking it out for something that is unspokenly profound; I’m sure, that when I was a child, it was just to sit near the speakers and feel the comfort of this song wizard’s world.

Obviously, the lyrics went largely over my head, but I definitely learned them on that floor by the cd player. ‘Wild World’ was always my favourite and ‘Hard Headed Woman’ was certainly a close second; it must have had some effect as, now, I reflect on the lyrics “one who will make me do my best” and fondly consider my beloved partner.

‘Father And Son’ is at the end of the album, and I don’t recall getting past the 3rd track very often, as a wee tacker. This song came into my sphere through - believe it or not - my sisters’ copy of SingStar on Play Station 2. I could play with my low voice to finally get some wins on the competitive songame.

The song now represents to me so many things. Every time I play it, I seem to learn a subtle shift in my understandings of different people’s perspectives in this life. I used to sing it from this aggressive hurting place, then I sang it from an understanding of the elder’s position, then from one who observes the Love between the two. I think it is a sacred song of sorts; and, having just had a conversation with a Dear Brother about his broadening grasp of Love itself (which he gleans every day, a little deeper, due to the experience he has had by having just been made a father to a son) I feel even more strongly about the importance of this song.
*The aforementioned brother also informed me of yesterday’s anti-religious holiday, we laughed about it and I’ve hopefully baited some folk with it in today’s introduction (as I actually recorded this 6 weeks ago and couldn’t care less about people blindly following whatever; the real issue will always be the shepeards).

Back to the wizard of song - I love Yusuf / Cat Stevens’ voice and his writing; how he plays some of those guitar lines while gliding around on his throat chakra is mental - I must have tried to learn ‘Peace Train’ ten times! When people inevitably liken us performers to one’s they know (and hopefully, enjoy) I am always especially honoured to remind someone of this great artist.

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TeeNote: Thanks Ma!
This beautiful Archie Roach (patron saint of this continent’s songwriters) shirt is just the best colour and has the late legend’s emblem on it, that you may be familiar with from the stickers on my guitars. You can - and probably should! - grab a ‘Vintage Koorie 1988 T-Shirt’ or some of those stickers here: https://www.archieroach.com/store

#samsung #cover #yusufislam #catstevens #fatherandson