Best Songs Ever

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“Father and Son” is a popular song written and performed by English singer-songwriter, Yusuf Islam (then known as Cat Stevens) on his 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. The song frames an exchange between a father not understanding a son’s desire to break away and shape a new life, and the son who cannot really explain himself but knows that it is time for him to seek his own destiny. To echo this, Stevens sings in a deeper register for the father’s lines, while using a higher, more emotive one for those of the son. Additionally, there are backing vocals provided by Stevens’ guitarist and friend, Alun Davies, singing an unusual chorus of simple words, and sentences such as, “No”, “Why must you go and make this decision?“, beginning mid-song, so softly, they are only... Read on...