Meaning of "An Other Cup" album title

[purplemoon]

What is the meaning of the album title An Other Cup?

In 2006, one reviewer wrote: "The title comes from a Zen
Buddhist saying about emptying yourself wholly before you
can receive wisdom." I recall seeing a concert clip in which,
perched on a wooden crate with a cup of tea, Yusuf relates a
fable with a similar moral about "Tillerman."

Another reviewer (Steve Morley for umc.org) wrote:
"His stated goal is rather to emphasize similarities between
Islam, Judaism and Christianity, hoping to build a bridge
between adherents of these differing doctrines. "

Neither of these fully answer the question of the significance of
the cup on the cover, which clearly represents something to
Yusuf. Also, why did he choose to emphasize the word "other"
by calling it An Other Cup instead of the more colloquial
Another Cup?

[purplemoon]

Presumably the blue contents of the cup are meant to evoke
water. As a metaphor for what? Emotion? Something that cleanses?

Why is the cup white? Why is there a gold band?

Attachments:

[blossom]

Dec 18, 2011 0:45:46 GMT -5 purplemoon said:

What is the meaning of the album title An Other Cup?

Neither of these fully answer the question of the significance of
the cup on the cover, which clearly represents something to
Yusuf. Also, why did he choose to emphasize the word "other"
by calling it An Other Cup instead of the more colloquial
Another Cup?

Although I hesitate to ever try to explain what Yusuf was or was not thinking...I believe that the word 'Another' in English anyway ,is not always a more colloquial way os saying 'An Other'

'Another' can mean more of the same...
'An Other'..shows that now something is significantly different

Did Yusuf want to make this distinction...two cups ..still linked by their form and function...BUT different in so much that the potter who threw the 'An Other' was now Yusuf....still Cat(the Tillerman cup).....but an other one....

I enjoyed seeing a tea cup and saucer in the Yusuf van in Berlin...nice touch...but had there been a matching one I may have stayed put till invited for a cuppa!!

[purplemoon]

What does a "cup" symbolize?

In the Christian tradition, of course, there is the well-known
biblical passage from Matthew 26:39 where Jesus prays in the
Garden of Gethsemane on the eve of his arrest:

"And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed,
saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."

Here, I think, "cup" means "destiny."

Later, in Arthurian legend, we have the cup of The Holy Grail
-- full of mystical associations.

Does "cup" signify something in Islamic poetic traditions?

[purplemoon]

Found it! The parable of emptying one's cup is a Zen story
about a 19th century Japanese Zen master, Nan-in.
It's in 101 Zen Stories edited by Nyogen Senzaki,
published in 1919.



A Cup of Tea

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912),
received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.
Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept
on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no
longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!"
"Like this cup," Nan-in said, "you are full of your own opinions and
speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"

[purplemoon]

Is the cup Yusuf's Ensō?

Ensō is Japanese for “circle”, an idea strongly associated with Zen
and a frequent subject of Zen painting. It symbolizes a state when
the mind is empty, and being empty, free to let the spirit create,
unencumbered by ego. An ensō is completed in a single brush stroke
without modification. Zen Buddhists believe the soul of the artist
is fully exposed by his ensō – that only those who are spiritually
enlightened can create a true ensō.

Attachments:

[blossom]

''Why is the cup white? Why is there a gold band? ''....

A band or cirlcle to me always seems to symbolise eternity..no beginning ,no end
gold...purity,constance, strength,even power,beauty..but softness...pirates were always biting the dubloon to see if the gold was soft and pure in my childhood stories.....

white..purity....simpleness.....
all very obvious.....these discussions are 'fun'..but would be so much 'funner' if Yusuf would join in.....

Is the image of the cup a profound symbol as we imagine.?...or is the cup an identical representation of the one a nice steaming cuppa was served up in in the local greasy spoon!!
Surely the former? and worth looking into?.......p'raps then the tealeaves will enlighten us......

[purplemoon]

Dec 18, 2011 5:31:48 GMT -5 blossom said:

.these discussions are 'fun'..but would be so much 'funner' if Yusuf would join in.....

Good grief! NO! He would just ruin all of the fun by
providing a definitive answer. I prefer an open-ended exploration
of all possible ramifications .... ramifications ........ RAMIFICATIONS!

[Whispered aside to stage left: It's your cue, Mr. Bone!]

[M.]

Morning, girls
you really should pay much more attention to my site...

catnip.jimdo.com/leben/back-to-earth/

(translator is also on the site)


Hi Sabina... you wondrously blossom of dawn dew ;D

[blossom]

M on your site in that interview about things in general and 'An Other Cup'..he says its a coffee cup..coffee.....oh my.....could this be a translation thing?........and there was I thinking......but it is tea for the Tillerman..?

Thanks for the link....

[peritura]

oh, but coffee is Arabian, isn't it?
bridging the cultures,,,
and it is an other (or different) cup...

[rainydays]

This is just my take on it. But, I am betting it is a cultural thing, similar in meaning to the reason Greg Mortenson titled his book 'Three Cups of tea'.
The book takes place in Afghanistan, but it could represent many other cultures. Maybe Yusuf was giving us another cup of tea to make us an honored guest or family.

Quote from Mortensons book: Three Cups of Tea
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways...The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything, even die....Dr Greg, you must take time to share three cups of tea. We may be uneducated. But we are not stupid. We have lived and survived here for a long time."

[purplemoon]

Dec 18, 2011 10:19:45 GMT -5 rainydays said:

"If you want to thrive in Baltistan, you must respect our ways...The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger. The second time you take tea, you are an honored guest. The third time you share a cup of tea, you become family, and for our family, we are prepared to do anything ...

Charming anecdote! Thank you!

[purplemoon]

Dec 18, 2011 5:54:04 GMT -5 M. said:

Morning, girls
you really should pay much more attention to my site...
catnip.jimdo.com/leben/back-to-earth/

Thanks M! Here's a translation of the relevant section of the
interview from the article at the URL above:
___________________________________________________

A small grammatical quirk. I wanted people to understand that this record is really an other cup. Not just another cup, but: A. Other. Cup.

I do not understand.

The cup is also printed on the cover of "Tea for the Tillerman" from 1970, my most famous album, and shows with that small space that something has happened since then. That we live in another world. This CD is a new step, some think it was a very courageous step. I am building a bridge and am trying to walk on it. Many people are afraid to cross the bridge.

The bridge between East and West.

Exactly. The symbol of the coffee cup also refers to the hidden treasures of the Islamic civilization. Coffee houses, cafes, which we see today on every corner, was invented by Muslims. They were already in the 15th Century in Istanbul and even earlier in Yemen. So the cup is a symbol of what we share.

[Gizem]

purplemoon thank you.

And probably you know, he talks about that also here...

(5.45)

[purplemoon]

Thank you Gzm! In the video you posted, Yusuf shows a 15th
century painting of a Turkish cafe with gold banded white cups:

Attachments:

[aurarisma]

Dec 18, 2011 5:31:48 GMT -5 blossom said:

''Why is the cup white? Why is there a gold band? ''....

A band or cirlcle to me always seems to symbolise eternity..no beginning ,no end
gold...purity,constance, strength,even power,beauty..but softness...pirates were always biting the dubloon to see if the gold was soft and pure in my childhood stories.....

white..purity....simpleness.....
all very obvious.....these discussions are 'fun'..but would be so much 'funner' if Yusuf would join in.....

Is the image of the cup a profound symbol as we imagine.?...or is the cup an identical representation of the one a nice steaming cuppa was served up in in the local greasy spoon!!
Surely the former? and worth looking into?.......p'raps then the tealeaves will enlighten us......

maybe I could read his cup after a good cup of turkish or greek coffee !!! My grandmother taught me to read them in accordance to the goodness of life .. for the Glory of God .. always goood.. never seen anything bad when I do it which is hardly ever nowadays ..read mine once in Patmos and I was with my fahter and friends and an artist painted the inside of the cup for me on a napkin and I have it framed .. it was one of those cups u just didnt want to forget!!! ammmmazing..

yes an other cup if I remember him saying is just that .. He is drinking from an other cup ..... with much inside from his journeys.. perhaps the gold band is a rung on the ladder so to speak ..
xoxo
blesssings oxo

[M.]

Dec 18, 2011 11:39:03 GMT -5 purplemoon said:

Thank you Gzm! In the video you posted, Yusuf shows a 15th
century painting of a Turkish cafe with gold banded white cups:

Booklet of "Yusuf's Café Session"- DVD:





















It also contains a little poster which hangs framed here in my room... I'll take a picture as soon as my camera does work again

[purplemoon]

Beautiful photos! Thanks M!

The image of the round earth in Yusuf's "other cup" sheds light,
perhaps, on why he chose to fill the cup with blue ocean on the
album cover. The caption "stop fighting - share a cup" encourages
everyone to share the earth (and all the magnificence of creation it
represents) together in peace.

So perhaps the cup on the album cover represents an invitation
to world peace. Through Islam? Exclusively through Islam?

If so, what's the connection to Tillerman and Zen stories?

[hyacinth]

Thanks M!
One interesting thing about the second pic from the DVD booklet is that the background scene with the wave, the boat, and Mt. Fuji is the woodblock print by Hokusai The Great Wave and then the Turkish or Persian figures? are imposed on that.
Was that the same pic of a wave that was projected in his recent performances? Watching Youtube it looks as if there is a giant wave behind him at times.
"And if a storm should come and if you face a wave
That may be the chance for you to be saved"
So that's an interesting blend - more bridging of the East - West or is it some sort of reflection of a personal integration of the old Cat and the present Yusuf?

I didn't rewatch the video at the museum (although I always enjoy hearing him talk, AND he looks very spiffy in that lovely sweater ) so I don't remember if he talks about this - but somewhere I think he mentions the Persian musician Ziryab on the poster. Fascinating info about him on the internet.

[hyacinth]

Dec 18, 2011 12:55:43 GMT -5 purplemoon said:

So perhaps the cup on the album cover represents an invitation to world peace. Through Islam? Exclusively through Islam? If so, what's the connection to Tillerman and Zen stories?

Yes, an invitation to understanding and peace, through any means we can use to get there, but he'd probably love to see more people find that peace through Islam.
"I have dreamt of an open world, borderless and wide
Where people move from place to place and nobody's taking sides."

I THINK I remember waaaaay back on one the threads some discussion of the choice of the Tillerman for the album. (Well, if not here then somewhere I think I read it). They were saying something about the meaning of his family name being "one who tills or farms". (Lord, I hope I'm not hallucinating this memory! I don't have time now to look for it.) Anyway, maybe that explained the choice of the Tillerman for the album. If so, then I think all these images and beliefs are just a reflection of his journey as a person and an artist.

[purplemoon]

Dec 18, 2011 15:17:54 GMT -5 hyacinth said:

They were saying something about the meaning of his family name being "one who tills or farms".

True. Georgiou means "earth worker" in Greek.

[M.]

www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/nov/11/folk.popandrock

[...]This all rather makes you wonder why he has chosen to come back to it. He concedes it's hard to divorce his return to secular music from current events. "Maybe some people may have thought or imagined that Islam drains all creativity. In fact, when you look at history, you discover that the golden age of Spain is what actually produced what we call the guitar. Sciences, medicines, even the fact that we drink coffee today on every corner is a result of this fantastic kind of moment of civilisation in the Muslim world, where art and life was one, and entertainment was part of that. For me, to sing again means to reaffirm the creativity of Islamic thought, of what it can do to a person and how it can express itself. If a person thought, 'Well, he wrote great songs as a non-Muslim, but he can't write them as a Muslim', here's the proof otherwise."

He pulls out a deluxe edition of the CD and points to a picture of himself drinking coffee underneath a poster that reads THE RETURN OF ZIRYAB. "Have you read about this guy, Ziryab?" he asks. "It's an incredibly interesting story. He was a musician, astronomer, fashion designer and gastronome, he was one of the architects of Andalusian culture."

For the first time in the afternoon, he sounds neither wary nor evasive but genuinely enthusiastic. "He brought all sorts of culture to Spain and thus through to Europe," he continues. Muslims don't know about this, it's become so stark. I think we've got to push the premise that culture is something to be shared by everybody. It's not a divisive issue. Whenever anything is good, a lot of people flock to it and want it, and that's why I'm singing songs again."





And here are some excerpts from a German article:

Im Artwork des Albums wirken die unter anderem enthaltenen Comic-artigen, orientalisch aussehenden „Männchen“ etwas pittoresk, ansonsten steht das Motiv des Teetrinkens im Vordergrund, vielleicht wie der Titel auch in Anspielung auf eines der erfolgreichsten Cat Stevens-Alben, „Tea For The Tillerman“. Und das Poster mit der Aufschrift „The Return of Ziryab“ – in Anspielung auf den berühmten muslimischen Musiker aus dem alten Andalusien, der vor allem für sein Beherrschen des Saiteninstruments und dessen Weiterentwicklung bekannt wurde - vor dem Yusuf Islam auf dem Backcover sitzt und das sich auch im Beiheft wieder findet, verdeutlicht, in welcher Tradition Yusuf sich mit seinem neuen Album sehen möchte.


In einem Interview zu seinem Comeback, das auch im deutschen Fernsehen zu sehen war, antwortete Yusuf Islam auf eine typische Frage sinngemäß: „Im Islam geht es nicht um Kopftuch oder Schweinefleisch, sondern um eine Lebensweise, welche aus einer Quelle stammt, die nicht angezweifelt werden kann.“ Man kann ihm zu seinem neuen Album nur wünschen, dass er damit und mit seiner Botschaft so viele Menschen wie möglich erreichen möge.


(to translate itself )

[glassworld]

I've read somewhere that...."An Other Cup is the best of Sufi/Spiritual album by Yusufi in this decade."

Maybe or perhaps there/he'll be coming out soon with an other serving...
'An Other Cup Vol.2'.

[tiffany]

An Other Cup was Yusuf's first ever album since Back To Earth, which was released in November 1978, the year Cat converted his life to religion, by turning away from pop stardom, and embracing Islam, leaving us Cat fans to make do and mend, until 2006, when he was brought back to music, picking up the guitar, and returning for a third time, but with new songs and melodies and many of his old Cat Stevens songs. I think my faves on that album are as follows:
Midday/Avoid City After Dark
Maybe There's A World
One Day At A Time
In The End and There is Peace

[Deleted]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Other_Cup

On the album cover, the singer is credited as "Yusuf" with a cover label identifying him as "the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens". In an interview as to why he presented both names, he said, "You know, the cup is there to be filled... with whatever you want to fill it with. For those people looking for Cat Stevens, they'll probably find him in this record. If you want to find Yusuf, go a bit deeper, you'll find him."

[Leonard]

The meaning of the album title is probably a lot simpler than you might think. "An other cup" refers to "a different cup", as opposed to "another cup" which would mean "one more cup (of the same)."