Music
One of Cat Stevens’ songs is a rewrite of a Christian hymn. That’s very interesting, considering that Stevens is now one of the only Muslim celebrities in the Western world.
A handful of classic rock songs have religious overtones. For example, one of Cat Stevens’ songs is a rewrite of a Christian hymn. That’s very interesting, considering that Stevens is now one of the only Muslim celebrities in the Western world. Here’s a look at how the song holds up in light of Steven’s current religious views.
1 hit song by Cat Stevens is from the 1930s
When Stevens peaked in the 1970s, his sound was both current and old-fashioned. It was current because he was at the forefront of the decade’s singer-songwriter boom that straddled the line between folk-rock and easy listening. At the same time, most of his songs were so low-tech they could have been written hundreds of years prior. Maybe that’s why his discography has a timeless quality that a lot of pop music lacks.
Stevens once became so old-fashioned that he covered “Morning Has Broken,” a hymn from the 1930s. Generally, pop stars want to seem like they’re on the cutting edge of music. Meanwhile, Stevens was happy to release a song from his parent’s generation as a single. Paradoxically, Stevens was gutsy in his traditionalism. Very few covers became hits from the 1970s onward, and very few pop songs in the United States and the United Kingdom are religious. Stevens threw out the rule book, and it worked.
Why ‘Morning Has Broken’ works as a Muslim song
Stevens put out his rendition of “Morning Has Broken” in 1971. He famously converted to Islam in 1977. How does Steven’s decision to record a Christian hymn look in light of his later Muslim faith?
Oddly enough, the song still works. Some Muslims would prefer to abstain from any culture that has Christian origins, but others do not. Interestingly, “Morning Has Broken” only references religious concepts like God designing the universe and the Garden of Eden that appear in both Christianity and Islam. By accident, Stevens might have built a tiny, musical bridge between the two largest Abrahamic faiths.
Cat Stevens discussed the connection between his early music and Islam
During a 2020 interview with GQ, Stevens discussed his seminal album Tea for the Tillerman. The singer was asked if he believed any of the tunes from that record presaged his conversion to Islam. “No, no,” he replied. “I see music as a gift and all I’m doing is I’m just enjoying that gift. With certain presents, you unwrap it and that’s it. The thrill has gone after you’ve ripped off the wrapping paper. But not with music. Music continues to vibrate and mean something.
“After my first experience in the pop music business, I was careful to be as honest with myself as possible with my writing, what I was doing, where I was and why, what I was looking for,” he added. “I tried to explain everything in my songs. And that’s why I think they still live. They still relate, because a lot of kids, I’m sure, are going through that stage of questioning ‘If things are the way they are now, are they going to stay like that forever?’ No. Things have got to change.”
Regardless of your faith (or lack thereof), you can hear the melodic beauty of “Morning Has Broken” and Stevens’ cover of it.
