Published On Feb 7, 2009
Photo montage of Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam of his fabulous song Father and Son.
"Father and Son" is a popular song written and performed by English singer-songwriter, Cat Stevens on his 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman.
The song, whose music is soft with a lilting dynamicism, frames an exchange between a father not understanding a son's desire to break away and shape a new life, and the son who cannot really explain himself but knows that it is time for him to seek his own destiny. To echo this, Stevens sings in a deeper register for the father's lines, while using a higher, more emotive one for those of the son. Additionally, there are backing vocals provided by Stevens' guitarist and friend, Alun Davies, singing an unusual chorus of simple words, and sentences such as, "No", "Go and make this decision", beginning mid-song, so softly, they are only perceivable with a slight increase in volume towards the end of the song.