477 Even iets heel anders.

Een van de beste pop-muziek componisten is Cat Stevens.

Zijn album Tea for the Tillerman is prachtig.

Maar na de jaren 60 hebben we eigenlijk nooit meer iets van Stevens gehoord.

Hij is een gelovig moslim geworden, en  maakt af en toe nog muziek in die context.

Tea for the Tillerman is al een zoektocht  naar verdieping, naar de zin van het leven.

Zelf ben ik geen fan van de islam, maar de manier waarop de islam nu allerwegen wordt gebashd stuit me vreselijk tegen de borst:  het zijn oorlogszuchtige moordenaars die achter dat bashen zitten.
Dat is mij al lang duidelijk.
Hier zijn het dus de Bad Guys die ons allen wijs maken dat een groep die in hun belang moet worden vernietigd, Bad is. Terwijl er met die mensen helemaal niks aan de hand is. Ze hebben een godsdienst zoals de meeste andere godsdiensten: met goede en slechte aspecten. Met heiligen en schurkenb in hun gelederen.

Hier een engelstalige recensie van 'Tea for the Tillerman':

Review by William Ruhlmann   (link) 

Mona Bone Jakon only began Cat Stevens' comeback. Seven months later, he returned with Tea for the Tillerman, an album in the same chamber-group style, employing the same musicians and producer, but with a far more confident tone. Mona Bone Jakon had been full of references to death, but Tea for the Tillerman was not about dying; it was about living in the modern world while rejecting it in favor of spiritual fulfillment. It began with a statement of purpose, "Where Do the Children Play?," in whichStevens questioned the value of technology and progress. "Wild World" found the singer being dumped by a girl, but making the novel suggestion that she should stay with him because she was incapable of handling things without him. "Sad Lisa" might have been about the same girl after she tried and failed to make her way; now, she seemed depressed to the point of psychosis. The rest of the album veered between two themes: the conflict between the young and the old, and religion as an answer to life's questions. Tea for the Tillerman was the story of a young man's search for spiritual meaning in a soulless class society he found abhorrent. He hadn't yet reached his destination, but he was confident he was going in the right direction, traveling at his own, unhurried pace. The album's rejection of contemporary life and its yearning for something more struck a chord with listeners in an era in which traditional verities had been shaken. It didn't hurt, of course, that Stevens had lost none of his ability to craft a catchy pop melody; the album may have been full of angst, but it wasn't hard to sing along to. As a result, Tea for the Tillerman became a big seller and, for the second time in four years, its creator became a pop star.
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1."Where Do the Children Play?" (Recorded: July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England) 3:522.
"Hard Headed Woman" (Recorded: July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)3:473.
"Wild World" (Recorded: July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)3:204.
"Sad Lisa" (Recorded: July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)3:455.
"Miles from Nowhere" (Recorded: June 1970 at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England)3:376.
"But I Might Die Tonight" (Recorded: May 1970 at Island Studios, Notting Hill, London, England)1:537.
"Longer Boats" (Recorded: June 1970 at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England)3:128.
"Into White" (Recorded: June 1970 at Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, England)3:249.
"On the Road to Find Out" (Recorded: May 1970 at Island Studios, Notting Hill, London, England)5:0810.
"Father and Son" (Recorded: July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England)3:4111.
"Tea for the Tillerman" (Recorded: May 1970 at Island Studios, Notting Hill, London, England)1:01