Father and Son by Cat Stevens

Listening: Father and Son by Cat Stevens

Father and Son is a famous song written and performed by Cat Stevens, now known as Yusuf Islam. This page provides information about the song and links to the lyrics and the official video.

Father and Son by Cat Stevens

Interesting information about the song

The song is an exchange between a father not understanding a son’s desire to break away and shape a new life, and a son who cannot really explain himself but knows that it is time for him to seek his own destiny.

Cat Stevens originally wrote “Father and Son” as part of a proposed musical project with actor Nigel Hawthorne called Revolussia, which was set during the Russian Revolution; the song was about a boy who wanted to join the revolution against the wishes of his father.

The musical project faded away because Cat Stevens was very ill and was close to death. He spent a long time recovering from his illness. But “Father and Son” was produced later and reflects now not only the societal conflict of Stevens” time, but also captures the impulses of older and younger generations in general.

The video

Official Music Video

The lyrics

Full lyrics of this song

Language points

The song includes many interesting language points:

• The simple past of the verb to be
• The simple present of the verb to be
• The imperative
• Conditional sentence

Expressions that may be useful to students:

• It’s not time to make a change,
  Just relax, take it easy.
  You’re still young, that’s your fault,
  There’s so much you have to know.
  Find a girl, settle down,
  If you want you can marry.
  Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy.
• I was once like you are now..
• If they were right, I’d agree.

Source: Wikipedia

External Links:

• Yussuf Islam’s website

More lyrics here