The song Yusuf/Cat Stevens was destined to write: “Fate had already written it”
The thing with Yusuf/Cat Stevens is that he might have written his biggest hits over half a century ago, but they still remain as unerringly relevant as they ever were.
Sometimes that serves as a comfort; other times it’s a jarring and disturbing reminder of the dark road the world continues to hurtle down, despite many warning signs having been frantically waved in our view to slam on the brakes. It’s not like Stevens sits back smugly and says, “I told you so,” but it seems that at every twist and turn, his songs present a dose of deja vu.
Among the litany of examples which his back catalogue provides, ‘Peace Train’ still stands as yet another testimony to this very ideal, pleading us to create a world that none of us have ever seemed to quite get a handle on. Yet as the journey continues to hurtle down the tracks and the memory of Alfred Hitchcock springs to mind, it seemed Stevens knew he was destined for something greater.
‘Peace Train’ may have been penned in 1971, but it was well worth noting the way Stevens felt so strongly that it constantly communicated a higher power, no matter the time, place, or landscape. That was why his future conversion to Islam in late 1977 pulled the salience of the song into even sharper focus, because suddenly it fell into place with the purpose of his life.
“My song ‘Peace Train’ was not an accident in the book of Destiny; as far as I’m concerned, fate had already written it. Music has the ability to overarch politics and treacherous trenches of war,” he explained in a 2017 interview. Once he knew that Islam was his calling, suddenly all the words which flowed from his hand made the most perfect sense.
“The Religion of Islam I discovered was quite separate from most of the killing and chaos we see selected as ‘newsworthy’ by the great judges sitting up in those white, puffy clouds in editorial-land. It’s my hope that the media would try to focus more attention on the spiritual centre of Islam, which the vast majority adhere to, and let people see the truer picture,” he continued.
Certainly, it’s clear that Stevens has always seen his music as the most powerful vehicle for conveying the religious cause, speaking not just to the spirit of Islam but to the campaign for peace in every corner of the world. He may have seen his life’s purpose primarily as a singer when he started out, but soon realised that his gifts were worth so much more.
That is something which has never strayed from Stevens’ sights, whether it was in the 1970s or 2020s. Either way, the fact remains the same: until the world changes and peace finally prevails, his music will remain as transient and powerful as it ever was intended to be in the context of when it was first written.
Of course, this is only an insight someone gains with the power of hindsight and perspective, which Stevens now possesses by the bucketload. In this sense, he’s a rare example of an artist who might just be getting better as he ages, as his words are coming from the mouth of someone who has truly envisioned the life he believes in.
