YUSUF / CAT STEVENS – KATMANDU

KATMANDU

YUSUF/CAT STEVENS

SONGWRITER: YUSUF ISLAM

HOW: LIVE

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: MONA BONE JAKON

LABEL: ISLAND RECORDS

GENRE: POP DEUX

YEAR: 1970

 

      Yusuf Islam(born Steven Demetre Georgiou; 21 July 1948), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf/Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in his career, Islamic music. He returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014.

         His 1967 debut album and its title song "Matthew and Son" both reached top ten in the UK charts. Stevens' albums Tea for the Tillerman(1970) and Teaser and the Firecat(1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album Catch Bull at Four went to N°1 on Billboard Pop Albums and spent weeks at the top of several major charts. He earned ASCAP songwriting awards in 2005 and 2006 for "The First Cut Is the Deepest", which has been a hit for four artists. His other hit songs include "Father and Son", "Wild World", "Moonshadow", "Peace Train", and "Morning Has Broken".

        In December 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. In 1979, he auctioned all of his guitars for charity, and left his musical career to devote himself to educational and philanthropic causes in the Muslim community. He has since bought back at least one of these guitars as a result of the efforts of his son Yoriyos. He was embroiled in a long-running controversy regarding comments he made in 1989 about the death fatwa on author Salman Rushdie. His current stance is that he never supported the fatwa: "I was cleverly framed by certain questions. I never supported the fatwa." He has received two honorary doctorates and awards for promoting peace as well as other humanitarian awards.

     Mona Bone Jakon is the third studio album by singer-songwriter Cat Stevens, released in April 1970 on the Island Records label in the United Kingdom and on A&M in the United States and Canada.

I sit beside the dark

Beneath the mire

Cold gray dusty day

The mornin' lake

Drinks up the sky

Katmandu, I'll soon be seein' you

And your strange bewilderin' time

Will hold me down

 

Chop me some broken wood

We'll start a fire

White warm light the dawn

And help me see

Old Satan's tree

Katmandu, I'll soon be touchin' you

And your strange bewilderin' time

Will hold me down

 

Pass me my hat and coat

Lock up the cabin

Slow night treat me right

Until I go

Be nice to know

Katmandu, I'll soon be seein' you

And your strange bewilderin' time

Will keep me home.