Cat Stevens – Father & Son

This song is a conversation between a father and son, with the father counseling his son to stay home, settle down and find a girl, telling him this is the path to happiness – after all, it worked for him. The son, though, feels compelled to leave and is frustrated because his dad makes no effort to understand why he wants to go or even hear him out.

Stevens made up the story, but his relationship with his own father, Stavros Georgiou, was an influence on the song. His dad owned a restaurant in London, and Cat (known to his dad as Steve Georgiou) worked there as a waiter right up until he signed a record deal at age 17. Stavros was hoping his son would join the family business.

An interesting sidebar: The restaurant that Islam’s family owned in London was called the Moulin Rouge.

Interviewed soon after the release of “Father and Son”, Stevens was asked if the song was autobiographical. Responding to the interviewer from Disc, he said, “I’ve never really understood my father, but he always let me do whatever I wanted—he let me go. ‘Father And Son’ is for those people who can’t break loose.

“Father and Son” – Single by Cat Stevens from the album Tea for the Tillerman
Released August 1970
Songwriters Cat Stevens
Producers Paul Samwell-Smith
Charted No.2 UK; No.1 Ireland; No.2 Australia; No.15 West Germany; No.24 Belgium.