C79

[purplemoon]

This song is a mystery. One reviewer back in the 70s
asserted that it is a song about "ladies on the road."
Surely not.

The lyric is being directed to his imagined sons -- who did not yet
exist. He is talking about how he met their mother. "She was
in C79 ... she was a junkie then ...." Huh? The clearest clue
that this is NOT about someone he had met is the line
"A thousand hours I've looked at her eyes, but I still don't know
what color they are."

I have a theory. Cat Stevens was a student of Celestial
Mechanics (CM) -- also sometimes called karmic astrology.
In CM, an astrological birthchart is thought to be a representation of a soul's life purpose. Since the eyes are sometimes poetically referred to as "windows of the soul,"
if one was studying the birthchart of someone one had not met, one might say things such as "we met behind the stage",
"she had the best figure by far", "I've looked at her eyes but
I still don't know what color they are."

Did he compute composite charts and discover one that was so
astonishing -- "by far" -- that it inspired a thousand hours of
study?

[downunder72]

Hi Purplemoon, and welcome to the other side of the fence. Great to see you here. Glad you took Yusufs webmasters advice. I'm sure you will really enjoy being part of this wonderful family. It really is the best place to let it out, especially when you just can't keep it in. ;D Here at majicat I think you will find the freedom, that is within certain limits, and the response you may have been looking for.

It is always interesting reading different theories to Cat/Yusuf related topics. Cat/Yusuf has been through so many different phases in his life, and written many songs during every phase, sometimes it would be nice to know the story behind his songs, and what inspired him.

Welcome again purplemoon.

[purplemoon]

Thank you for the hearty welcome downunder! Are you suggesting that failing to "keep it in" at another person's place
of business might be a breach of etiquette?

[Monty Python]

Interesting theories Purplemoon. I'm going to respectfully disagree, I think like many of CS songs, it's just a story. He has commented on several of his songs just being made up, not having any special meaning - Randy being one.

[valleycreeper]

MP--- I suppose CS could have written a fictional story, but even then I imagine it would have had some meaning for him. C79 does seem to be about taking advantage of opportunities for casual sex on the road. Is that somehow shocking? We know that CS over-indulged in one way or another in those later years, and that this was in part what his finding Islam was a sort of reaction against. Let's not make him out to have been a saint. Saints don't write moving songs about the full scope of life, including flaws and mistakes, as CS has done.

I think he saw a sort of beauty in a very brief relationship, as evidenced by "Boy With A Moon And Star...", where there is sex, then the mother, in a highly atypical, interesting move, leaves the son for him to raise. The sex was spontaneous, but the resulting commitment to the son is real, and not shied away from. The child is totally accepted. Who knows, maybe both songs are about the same relationship.

[purplemoon]

Cat Stevens may have said on occasion that his songs were entirely fictional,
but he also said, often, that they were either inspired by personal experience
or that were prophetic. IMHO, when an artist says "it doesn't have any special
meaning" that usually means "It's personal and I don't want to talk about it."

How can you say that C79 is about casual sex on the road when per the lyrics
it is a song sung to his imagined sons about how he met their mother? Are
you suggesting that C79 is a fantasy about the many children he unwittingly
fathered through casual sex while on the road in the 70s? GOD I HOPE NOT ........
LOL

[Vivian]

One thing I think we could all agree on is that Cat had an extrordinary imagination when it came to writing stories for his songs, whether they are true or not.

However, Yusuf, himself, has stated in various interviews that there are a few songs that he feels are inappropriate for him to sing today. He has specificaslly mentioned "Boy with a moon and star", because regardless of the wonderful outcome involving the child, there was infidelity, which is against what Yusuf stands for today. I don't know if C79 falls into this category, but I'm sure it's detailed in the liner notes of the box set which was released some years back. Maybe I should pull it out and refresh my memory.

Peace,Vivian

[peacock]

It could also be about someone else he knew who had that experience.

Just a thought.

[richina]

I looked Viv, and Yusuf wrote " The C79 lyrics were just something to sing until I found something better, but I never did find anything better. So I developed a story around it."

I think CS took bits and pieces from his life and expanded them into songs. I think it's called "poetic license". I've never taken any of his lyrics word for word, I just try to glean the basic meaning from the song (as I hear it).

[greeneyedgirl]

That's why I love Cat Stevens/Yusuf. He's a great artist in all areas, storytelling, photography, drawing and painting and of course music.

[crazywater]

My theory on this song has always been the "singer" telling the story to the "young gentlemen" was he was making it up all along based on him saying C79 in the first two verses and then "Suite 79" in the last. It was just BS.

[Nancysoumb]

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