Swiroset.com

Cat Steven’s “Wild World” was her first American hit, reaching number 11 on the Billboard Top 40 charts in March 1971. But it turns out that the real meaning behind this song isn’t what most people assume. Stevens (born Steven Georgiou and known as Yusef Islam since 1979 after becoming a Muslim) finally revealed what the song was about just a couple of years ago.

Originally, some people understandably assumed the song was referring to Stevens’ two-year relationship with American actress and model Patti D’Arbanville. This is understandable given that Stevens’ previous album, Mona Bone Jakon, opens with a song titled “Lady D’Arbanville,” which is filled with imagery about a lady the singer loves who is now “dead.” The real truth about the song was told by Stevens/Islam himself while he was a guest on The Chris Isaac Hour in 2009. In Islam’s own words:

“I was trying to relate to my life. I was at the point where it was starting to happen and I was entering the world myself. I had done my career before, and I was warning myself to be careful this time.” . around, because it was happening. It wasn’t me writing about anyone specific, although other people may have reported the song, but it was more about me. It’s about losing touch with home and reality, especially home.”

Here are some other facts about the song that you might find interesting:

1. Speaking about the lyrics, Islam commented: “It was one of those chord sequences that are very common in Spanish music. I turned it around and that theme occurred to me, which is a recurring theme in my work, which has to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond.There is criticism at times of my music, which is a bit naive, but then again, that is exactly why I people like it. It goes back to the purely childish approach of seeing things almost for the first time. A child might say things like, ‘Why is it a cow?’ You shouldn’t put those words together! But if you do, you’ll stop and think.”

2. Wild World was one of the songs that convinced Islam to release a Greatest Hits album of his previous work as Cat Stevens.

3. Stevens wasn’t the first to release his own song. Jimmy Cliff had a cover of the song that was released months before Stevens released his own original version on the “Tea For the Tillerman” album. Cliff’s version was a top ten hit in England. Steven’s own version was not released as a single there.