To date, Yusuf / Cat Stevens has shared three singles from‘Tea for the Tillerman²‘ the reimagined rework of his classic 1970 album. Today he shares the video for ‘Wild World‘, a single which, stylistically, is said to be the biggest departure from the original.
That said, as with his other re-imagined offerings to date, it is equally enchanting, not just for its modern re-interpretation, which is always food for thought, but also for the imaginative underlying vintage threads running throughout. That theme extends into the video which “combines elements of Wes Anderson, Casablanca and Bugsy Mallone. Child actors play out a Blackjack gambling duel which bounces back-and-forth as the ill-fated cards fall between the house dealer and the plucky winner. Mental games of revenge invoke thoughts which jaunt us into a bruising boxing match as well as brutal excursions into WW2.”
Just as the future on this planet was highlighted by his classic ecological anthem, Where Do The Children Play?, “Wild World” touches on the precarious state of the world we are living in right now, with war and aggression closing in on us from every side.
Far from casting us all to doom, his songs offer hope in a shift away from self and material gain which drives wars, poverty, pollution and everything else that seems to be wrong on the world today. His words tell us that they are problems that we can overcome.
Order Tea for the Tillerman 2 via Amazon