An Other Cup

Good Morning!

Well....2007 seems to be a return to old favorites for me. I've gotten back into music, and it's Pinewood Derby season. Javi and I have built a car, and it reminded me how much I like to build things, so we'll be getting back in to scale modeling by the end of the month. (Javi likes F-15s, so there's a snap together kit in our future.)

But it's music I've been enjoying the most in recent weeks. My stepmother, a hippie if there ever was one, has given me a couple of CDs from a long-lost musician that I've been listening to recently.

It's Steven Demetre Georgiou, who most of you know as Cat Stevens.

Cat had a string of hits in the early to mid 1970s, including quite a few that I never knew he did. It was very interesting to listen to his Greatest Hits album, and shaking my head saying "He did that???"

We all know that Cat famously left the west, converted to Islam, and gave up music. But do you know why he did it? From our friends at Wikipedia:

When Stevens nearly drowned in an accident in Malibu in 1975, he reports having pleaded with God to save him. Stevens described the event in a VH1 interview some years later: "I suddenly held myself and I said, 'Oh God! If you save me, I'll work for you.'" The near-death experience intensified his long-held quest for spiritual truth. He had looked into Buddhism "Zen and I Ching, numerology, tarot cards and astrology", but when his brother David gave him a copy of the Qur'an, Stevens began to find peace with himself and began his transition to Islam.

He formally converted to the Islamic faith in 1977 and took the name Yusuf Islam in 1978, saying that he "always loved the name Joseph" and was particularly drawn to the story of Joseph in the Qur'an.

He made his last musical appearance at The Year of The Child concert in Wembley Stadium, on November 22, 1979.

I don't know about you, but I won't fault a man for finding God after a traumatic event, no matter which prophet he chooses to follow.

Now Yusuf Islam, he gave up music entirely after that, mostly due to a conflict among Islamic scholars whether or not it was OK to sing and use musical instruments.

But that didn't mean he gave up art; Yusuf recorded a number of albums of Islamic prayers with rhythmic accompaniment, and also wrote a few children's books for use in Islamic studies.

More recently, Yusuf has started his own charity. He's affiliated with the UN, and is working on behalf of frightened and displaced children everywhere.

Children and the poorest members of society are often the first casualties of war and face the most arduous of tasks in rebuilding their lives when disaster strikes. The mental scars inflicted on such innocent souls can take years to heal. Everybody’s future relies on everybody else’s future. Do you want to have a positive impact on somebody's future?

Now, I don't believe for one second that there is evil in Yusuf Islam. But somehow, the government of the United States does. In 2004, Yusuf was traveling to the United States to meet with Dolly Parton, who had recorded a cover of his iconic "Peace Train". His name was flagged on the no-fly list, and the flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine where he was removed and returned to England.

It was later revealed that the man in question was "Youssef Islam", but apparently the different spelling didn't matter to the feds; it was easier to persecute the celebrity for the easy headline.

If you haven't heard, Yusuf has at long last returned to his roots and recorded a new album, his first in 28 years...An Other Cup. I've been listening to this, and I've found it remarkable. I haven't finished it yet, but it's quiet, pensive, thoughtful, and chock-full of good music and meaningful lyrics. In short, it's everything that music isn't today.

Even if you've never been a fan of Cat Stevens, I urge you to check it out, if for no reason other than to tell the Bush "Administration" to Fuck Off. They've declared him an enemy of the state, but didn't ban his music. By buying this album, it helps to send a message that you don't think intolerance and hate based on religion is something our government should do.

I think Yusuf would agree.