Some of you might remember Cat Stevens. He did a lot of wonderful songs back in the 70s, then converted to Islam (changed his name to Yusaf Islam) and walked away from it all (for a while).
If you look at his Greatest Hits…well, when you listen to “Tea for the Tillerman,” or “Teaser and the Firecat,” or “Catch Bull at Four,” there you go. He’s not one barely able to scratch out a single measly “Greatest Hits” with maybe a song or two you’ve barely heard of. Where do the Children Play. Father and Sun. Peace Train. Morning Has Broken…the list goes on, and he’s actually had two “Greatest Hits” albums that I know of and still own in an antique format (CD).
But really, one of my all-time favorite songs by him isn’t one of the more famous. On “Buddha and the Chocolate Box,” Sun/C79 has always struck me as incredible. Maybe because it tells an interesting story (after the Sun intro) about a wild night on the road as a pop star. I had to look it up today to actually see if there was any truth in the song, and I appreciated the answer — no, it wasn’t necessarily a true story, but rather a reflection of Stevens’ struggle with fame. He was (and is) a gentle soul, and I’ve always felt that you could detect a spiritualism in his music — some kind of search for peace and love. He mentions Jesus and Buddha by name in some of those songs, and then there’s Peace Train, so filled with hope. I even remember Morning Has Broken from church when I was growing up — not as a hymn but playing for some other presentation.
So yeah. Sun/C79. I realize it doesn’t necessarily fit with the typical Christian “sensibilities” (a fling with a drug addicted groupie on the road), but there’s a gritty realism in how it makes me think of the world for people in their 20s at that time (I was only 11 when it came out, but we’re coming out of the 60s and many young adults were going through a lot back then). Maybe it’s nostalgia. I heard the song again for the first time in over 30 years and knew the words like it was some kind of time capsule. I don’t know. But it’s hard to get out of my head right now, and I don’t mind.