Over five years ago, I wrote a post that included videos of Bruce Springsteen playing one of his classic songs, Thundercrack, 39 years apart. In that post I wrote the following:
It’s fascinating to watch someone perform the same song, 39 years apart. What’s even more amazing is to notice that Bruce still has the incredible talent, passion, and obvious love for what he does now that he had as a 24-year old.
I wonder how many of us could hold up to such scrutiny after 39 years, and be proud of the lifetime of work that we have created.
Well, the past few weeks I’ve been listening to and watching a lot of Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam, no doubt inspired by a recent post by the wonderful blogger Clive at Take It Easy.
And the same thought struck me about Cat that I had about Bruce – how timeless his music and passion are.
So I found these two videos of Cat Stevens performing one of my favorite songs of his, Oh Very Young. The first video is from a live performance in 1976
and the second video is from a live performance in 2015, which also happens to be 39 years later, just like the Springsteen videos.
I’m not sure which version I like better, they are both incredible. The first video offers a more youthful and energetic Stevens while the second one offers a more mature and thoughtful version.
I also don’t know what I like most about the song: the music, his singing, or the lyrics.
The lyrics are just beautiful:
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You’re only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddy’s best jeans
Denim Blue fading up to the sky
And though you want him to last forever
You know he never will
(You know he never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
There’ll never be a better chance to change your
What will you leave us this time
You’re only dancing on this earth for a short while
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
It has been suggested that the song has ties to Don McClean’s classic song, American Pie:
On his website djallyn.org, DJ Ally posted the following about “Oh Very Young” on April 30, 2009:
Its lyric is a gentle response to Don McLean’s hit “American Pie” released two years previously. Like McLean, he stops short of mentioning Buddy Holly directly, but questions the ill-fated songwriter’s “Not Fade Away” (the last song Holly performed) lyric “a love to last more than one day, a lover’s love, not fade away” with Stevens’ own “denim blue, fading up to the sky, and though you want him to last forever you know he never will, and the patches make the goodbye harder still”. Stevens then mentions the young American’s mould-breaking work “Words Of Love” in the line “will you carry the words of love with you, will you ride the great white bird into heaven, and though you want to last forever you know you never will, and the goodbye makes the journey harder still.”
I feel blessed that two of my favorite musicians from nearly 50 years ago are still sharing their gifts. And it provides inspiration to all of us to find our passion and see where it leads us.
A poignant song, but I still can’t help but think of one particular song every time I think of Cat Stevens, the song that I had mistakenly given him credit for, for so many years. That’s my favorite song of his, though its not his. LOL!
I do really like Cat’s version of Morning has Broken. 🙂
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Hee-hee. I think I know which song you’re referring to.
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SSH! 🙂
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It’s difficult for me to shush. I’m chafin’ to say the name _______.
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😛
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say it!
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I’m still wondering…
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Curiosity is good for the brain! 😄
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🙂
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you’re going to have to reveal it…
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Okay, but I won’t mention names, because it’s very embarrassing for poor Carolyn. But one time she mentioned that her favorite song was Cat’s in the Cradle, by Cat Stevens. Of course almost everybody knows that it was Harry Chapin who made a hit of that song. Except that person whose name I won’t mention.
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thanks for the reveal, but whose Carolyn? 🙂 Did she think Cat was singing about himself when he was a baby?
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Carolyn is JoyRoses13. But you didn’t hear that from me. And who knows what she was thinking? She’s a little doolally, you know.
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“No comment!” but the dirt is flying out of your hole!
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Dang, I just can’t seem to put this shovel down.
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Yeah I have the same problem from time to time! Apparently I, I mean Cara, dug another hole, if you saw Jason’s comments about the story. LOL!
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I suspect there will be another story coming down the pike from Mason, er, Jason. In the meantime, Cara had better be very nice to Mason.
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Yeah. I have the same feeling …Cara is always on her best behavior! 🙂
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Yeah, right.
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Mason is really Gaston…
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I get confused with all the names. This is worse than trying to follow a soap opera.
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You need that chart, don’t you! But Gaston is not his name. Jim kjst thinks he acts like Gaston from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Gaston thought he was really handsome and thst all.the girls should love him!
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I’ve never seen Beauty and the Beast. I’m very self-conscious about my looks, and that movie might shatter me. But perhaps I should watch it one day, and use Gaston for inspiration. There’s a self-confident guy.
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yes, I do admire his confidence…
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like I said, Gaston is my kind of guy. My polar opposite…
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LOL!
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wait til they get amnesia…
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Now that would make for an interesting post.
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I forget what we were talking about…
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If all the many characters in Carolyn’s stories developed amnesia. They wouldn’t be able to remember each other’s names, either. Just like us readers.
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whose Carolyn again? 🙂
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She’s some lady who writes stories. But I can’t place my finger on where I last saw her posts.
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I’ll see if I can find them…
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It came, you can see it Thursday. 🙂
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the suspense!
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I hope you were able to sleep!
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not really…
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Well tomorrow is coming, just one more night and I gave you another story in the meantime. 🙂
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👍
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I have bated breath.
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I am sure you do, you may have trouble sleeping, eh! You should let Jason know your great anticipation.
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Hmm, should I really be encouraging him?
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Haha! When you put it that way, No! Don’t mess up the story!
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technically, there is no dirt in a hole…
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Smart aleck! 😛
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I’ll keep it on the down low…
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“Haha!” You are funnny!
I was so scarred by finding out that Cat didn’t do that song thats why I can’t erase that memory from my brain now! LOL! Of course the memory wouldn’t have been as scarring if I could have found it out on my own instead of certain people having to point it out to me! 😛
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it’s tough being such a public figure like yourself…
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LOL! Yeah, right!
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🙂
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just the facts, ma’am… 🙂
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Oh gosh! Sure, have me replying to your comments on my blog when you are up to mischief on here! You are just “sooo good!” at not mentioning names! Smart aleck!
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Well what are you doing snooping around here? This was a conversation between Jim and me, you flibbertigibbet.
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I know when certain stooges are involved that trouble is usually brewing!
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But I can’t help that Jim instigated me.
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Haha! Yeah, right, blame it on him! He didn’t even have to bribe you to tell him!
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Damn, that’s a missed opportunity. Why didn’t I think of that?
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Your loss!😛
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Hell.
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good to know you’ve got a price… 🙂
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And you’ll be gladder to know that I’m cheap.
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even better…
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I did offer to share my video recordings of my accounting lectures…
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Oooh yes, I don’t know if I could pass up that offer! 🙂
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I think my one video from five years ago is up to three views! 🙂
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inquiring minds wanted to know…
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I’m just a clueless follower…
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Haha! Yeah, Mr. “Innocent!” Not!
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I plead the fifth…
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and I was bummed to hear that Derek wasn’t smuggling flibbertigibbets inside those Mr Potato Heads…
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LOL! Sorry! Derek needed to do something that was going to make him loads of money!
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I think bespoke flibbertigibbets could fetch a high price…
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That would have been very exciting.
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Of course he gives in to you! I see the power you have!
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it’s not power, I just asked nicely… 🙂
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Ha!Ha!
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🙂
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hmmm… I must be missing an inside joke. I searched your web site and saw a post about the play “CATS”…
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LOL! Yes, you won’t find it on my site. Its something that happened awhile back. Sorry, if you would have been following me back then you would have seen the comment that I made that turned me red faced quickly once Tippy and Colin saw it!
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I would have guessed Tippy was involved… 🙂
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Of course. His name is Trouble with a capital T! Its his fault, if he hadn’t been talking about songs on his blog and then Colin or him mentioning Cat Stevens I never would have piped up about my favorite song of his!☺
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too bad the cat didn’t get your tongue at that moment…
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You are on a roll tonight aren’t you! Did Tippy lend you his shovel?
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since all I see are holes, there’s no need for a shovel…
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“Haha!”
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He still has it. Or at least he did in 2015. I like both singers, though I’ll admit understanding the lyrics to their songs can be a challenge. With some musicians, it seems one needs a lyrics interpreter to help us understand what the singer is trying to convey.
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I agree; I am often surprised to read what some song lyrics allegedly mean. I feel the way about some fictional books as well. I guess that’s why I’m not a fan of literary interpretations. Sometimes it seems like a stretch…
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I like the second version. Oh Very Young seems like it would be difficult to sing but Yusuf dose a great job as an old dude. The backstory to the song reminds me that I usually have no clue what people are really singing about. I still enjoy the music.
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who knows if that interpretation is true; I often question such insights…
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I like both versions with a slight lean to the first. What I am impressed about is how strong his voice remained thirty-nine years later. I’ve been to concerts of some of these old performers, and you never know what you’re going to get. Some still have it, while others had shot voices and turned much of the music over to performers who were probably in diapers when the marquee performer was a star. We went to one concert where the singer turned the microphone to the audience every time there was a high note. It was sad and comical at the same time.
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yes, Cat seems to have aged well. That would have been a fun, but somewhat disappointing concert to attend. I certainly would not be singing along to any high notes…
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I have always loved both of them and it is a gift – for us, and for them
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agreed…
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One of my all time favorite singer/songwriters. In the same category as Don McLean and Jim Croce! It is great to see artists continuing to perform and share their music with a generation that did not grow up with it on the radio. That is why I think the music was different back then. It has proved itself to be timeless! Great post, Jim! Good to see you back at it again, my friend!
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we are lucky to have been exposed to such artists at a young age, and even luckier that many of them continue to be wonderful artists. I was also a fan of Jim Croce, especially since he is a local guy!
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Hi Jim, I like both Bruce Springsteen and Cat Stephens and think they are both exceptional musicians. I am nominating you for the 10-day travel post challenge. I don’t know if you do challenges, but this is rather fun and might be of interest to you. No worries if you don’t want to do it. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/2021/01/26/travel-challenge-day-4/
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Bruce and Cat have stood the test of time.
Thank you for the nomination, but I don’t participate in such challenges. I have enough trouble keeping up with replying to comments 🙂
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No worries, Jim.
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👍
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OMG. I love Cat Stevens. Thank you. I saw him live in 1972. It was an amazing performance. It looked pretty much like your first video. I would be unable to say just which of his songs is my favourite. I love so many and can ‘sing’ (not out loud) along with all of them. I must put one of his CDs in my car to listen to next time I’m out and about. Thank you so much for the reminder.
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Tea for the Tillerman is one of my all-time favorite albums!
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Mine too! And Teaser and the Firecat, and Catch Bull at Four. I’m putting a best of into my car CD. I wonder how many bests they leave out. 🙂
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I am a fan of “best of” albums, but in the case, each album is almost like a best of…
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I know!
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With you all the way on both Cat and Bruce. I think I have a slight preference for the second version here: it sounds better coming from a voice of experience. I saw him play live in 2009 and the same was true of Father and Son, hearing it sung by the older voice. You could have heard a pin drop while he played it, and not a dry eye in the house. A musical master at work!
Thanks for the shout out too 👍
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You are so lucky to have seen him perform. We looked into buying tickets a couple of years ago, but I just could not justify the price, I think they were a couple of hundred dollars each. And happy to give you credit!
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Believe it or not, I actually won my ticket to see him in a newspaper competition, for a series of gigs marking the 50th anniversary of Island Records. Would have cost me £40 otherwise, so nowhere near as expensive as the ones you looked at! There were a couple of supporting acts, and we also got an unscheduled four song acoustic set by U2. I was standing with a bunch of people from Island and they had no idea that was happening. Not a bad evening, really 😊
Thank you for the credit!
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that sounds like an amazing evening! and winning the ticket was just icing on the cake…
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It was one of the best I’ve ever been to, and the freebie just topped it off. I found myself a nice little corner to stand in, and a group of people joined me. They were all from Island Records, lovely people. Near the end of the show a young man came over and got a wrist band from one of them. Turned out he was the son of Chris Blackwell, founder of the label, and it was a band to get you backstage after the show. The lad’s girlfriend had lost hers so needed that one. The guy who’d had it turned to me and said ‘pity, we were saving that for you’ so it could have been even better!
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so close… that would have been epic!
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Wouldn’t it just! Still a great evening though.
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Thanks so much for sharing this. Totally enjoyed the post, and especially the music.
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thanks, Cynthia. glad you enjoyed the post and the music…
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It’s nice that these musicians still have it after all these years. I decided never again to go see older musicians live after a couple of very disappointing shows where I felt they no longer enjoyed what they were doing. It had turned into a job that they needed to do. It was very sad.
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that is sad to hear about musicians having lost their passion, and now just going through the motions. I saw Bruce a few years ago, and he certainly has not lost one ounce of his passion or energy…
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Nice post, Jim. Thanks!
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thanks, Peter!
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Love both videos! Thanks for sharing this!
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you are welcome!
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