There are many parent/children songs: happy; sad; poignant; funny; bittersweet; angry; sorrowful; joyful.

Helen asked us to chose one for this weeks Song Lyric Sunday theme. I picked Father & Son by Cat Stevens (Yusuf Islam) for a very personal reason.

After the sudden shock of learning of my father’s death, snippets of this song kept rolling around in my sad, tired, questioning brain. I’m not sure why, but I found it soothing to sing those pieces of lyrics to myself during the chaos of his death and the aftermath. So, when parent/child was mentioned, it was the first song that came to mind. There are other songs which speak more closely to my relationship to my parents, but this song, strangely, was a comfort in a time when I really needed it.

2016 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death and I found myself again singing those snippets quietly in my mind. So for my father . . .

father and son

Father
It’s not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You’re still young, that’s your fault,
There’s so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it’s not easy,
To be calm when you’ve found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you’ve got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It’s always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father
It’s not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You’re still young, that’s your fault,
There’s so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I’m happy.
Son, away away away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone, no son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It’s hard, but it’s harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I’d agree, but it’s them you know not me.
Now there’s a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
Father, stay stay stay, why must you go and
Make this decision alone?

Songwriters: CAT STEVENS, YUSUF ISLAM

Data from: LyricFind