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Cat Stevens — Where Do The Children Play
Album: Tea for the Tillerman
Avg rating:
7.8

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2849









Released: 1970
Length: 3:48
Plays (last 30 days): 1
Well, I think it's fine, building jumbo planes
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train.
Switch on summer from a slot machine.
Yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything.

I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well, you roll on roads over fresh green grass
For your lorry loads pumping petrol gas.
And you make them long, and you make them tough,
But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can't get off.

Oh, I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well, you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air,
But will you keep on building higher
Till there's no more room up there?
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

I know we've come a long way,
We're changing day to day,
But tell me, where do the children play?
Comments (140)add comment
Yeah... if some old dude came up to me and asked "where do the children play?", I'd call the cops.
 puntloos wrote:

A song that was even relevant back then, even more relevant now. Struggling with the 'where do the children pla-ah-eh-eh-he-hey' - always found it a bit of a sign of poor lyric penmanship to stretch a syllable across so many notes. 


I happen to really like that part. Go figure.

Check out that album cover.

Art.

Art is for art's sake.
 Sofa_King wrote:


that's a great picture. that's how i picture him singing this song, that i love.
A fine follow from Society by Eddie Vedder! Bill 👍
Neat song coming from a then 21 year old. 
The answer: at the computer playing Fort Nite.
 puntloos wrote:

A song that was even relevant back then, even more relevant now. Struggling with the 'where do the children pla-ah-eh-eh-he-hey' - always found it a bit of a sign of poor lyric penmanship to stretch a syllable across so many notes. 




Oh, you're one of those people who dislike a lick, and dismiss the entire song.
A song that was even relevant back then, even more relevant now. Struggling with the 'where do the children pla-ah-eh-eh-he-hey' - always found it a bit of a sign of poor lyric penmanship to stretch a syllable across so many notes. 
 Easyrider wrote:

It appears that we have been walking through life blindfolded 🤔


And half deaf and dumb too.  
It appears that we have been walking through life blindfolded 🤔
It appears that we have been walking through life blindfolded.
1970. Have we learned nothing?
The first concert I ever went to.   I was 14.  It was very impactful to me as a young woman.  My love has and always will be for Cat Stevens.  I had every one of his albums (yes records) and I played them so often I am sure they were worn out.  This song sends me to those days.  But the meaning is still even more pertinent than it was back then.  Peacefully sung angst for our future.  
My pal and I went to see Cat Stevens at Madison Square Garden when he was touring his Numbers album. Going up the escalator into MSG from the rail station below we encountered Carly Simon and a girlfriend also going in. Kinda cool. 
 By_The_Bay wrote:

She's at the zoo with her grandkids.


Are you sure? I just saw her on Tucker and vine, Near Nancy’s. 
I think this was the first single I ever bought. Peace Train was the flip side. Still sounds so fresh and prescient…
Lyrics as relevant today as when written.
A favourite from back then.   In later years, I would wonder if Stevens had some intuitive understanding into modern freemarket economics.  

He captures the concept of 'opportunity cost' rather well.

Back in the day, I might wondered if this song had an environmental theme to it.   Makes sense to the extent that in a modern view economic and environmental are almost perfectly correlated.  
 philbertr wrote:
The seeking that would eventually lead to spiritual Islam
 

seeking leads to knowledge, knowledge leads to wisdom and wisdom led to a certain clarity that I am nothing, yet love tells me I am everything, in between the two, things seem to happen
The seeking that would eventually lead to spiritual Islam
I was in high school in Chicago. In the car heading to see Cat at the Chicago Stadium. Over the radio we heard that the concert was cancelled. He cut his hand slicing an orange.
Never been more disappointed in my short life
Wow, I gotta bump it up to a 9. Such a beautiful song and so well done.
We measure ourselves by the grandiosity of our monuments, our toys thrown out to the orbits of Pluto and beyond.  The magnificients of our crystalline towers and edifices.  

We marvel looking into the mirror of all our technology, and gasp in wonder at all that we have done.  in truth there is reason to be this way; especially when juxtaposed against our species history and how far we have come. 

In one sense we have become gods, except for wisdom. 

So here's a cautionary aspect, as noted by this song.  Is not the true measure of a culture, of a society, of a civilization, how it supports its young, it's old, its infirmed and its weakest members? 

If we are as gods should we not be acting out of the grace in our nature, and not out of its basest components?  Where do your children play indeed.

Just some thoughts provoked by this song.

Highlow
American Net'Zen
Good memories...
Why do I never get tired of listening to this masterpiece ?
Is it because it's really a masterpiece ??
Hmmm. I think I need to listen more often ...

Quite possibly my favourite Cat Stevens song. What a talent.
Keith Maurer this is where they play on radio paradise ... mm
Imagine for a moment a talent of this stature arising today. You can't.
amazing new video of this song on vevo
.  
 Steely_D wrote:
Cat Stevens was/is a really great amalgam: gruff manly voice with some tender emotional lyrics. 

An important part of this complete breakfast... I mean, adolescence. I got so lucky to have grown up in the 70s.
 

I like this song 'cause I lost my virginity as it played (ok, it took a little bit longer but not by much)
Forget this guy's  politics.  Some of his music 
is really amazing. Mystical folk pop at it's best 
Hmmm.....

"Well, you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air,
But will you keep on building higher
Till there's no more room up there?"

Yeah...maybe...but funny how life works....while we were building tight and high to the sky, all of it requiring cramped little boxes to traverse from low to high, 'ol Mother Nature was chopping tree-cutter style at the bases of all those crystalline edifices we were building.

 And she's doing so using the tiny, tiny, tiniest of axes.  Chop, chop, WACK!  Corvid brings 'em down.  Just Mother, endlessly inventive in pursuit of supporting the weave of her web of life.

So it goes don't it?  

Highlow
American Net'Zen
Such a nice voice and a timeless message.
One of a remarkable number of great records from 1970.  Glad I was there.
The children play because they know better then adults
Always a Cat Stevens treat
 Steely_D wrote:
Cat Stevens was/is a really great amalgam: gruff manly voice with some tender emotional lyrics. 

An important part of this complete breakfast... I mean, adolescence. I got so lucky to have grown up in the 70s.
 Rejoice - Growing up in the 70's means no apologies for not knowing anything about Taylor Swift...


High school makeout soundtrack where I was.

Good song and album too.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
To me going down from 7 to 5  + Skip
Have I said lately that this and wFMU have kept me sane from the crazy ness of the day with songs like this
What a GREAT minstrel!
 SmackDaddy wrote:
Enough. 6 times a day?
 

My personal record is 8
Then we both fell asleep
Enough. 6 times a day?
I'll tell you where they play, on their GD phones! This has always been one of my favorite Cat S. songs. Very powerful lyrics and a grand voice.
To me a very STRONG  7  I have to save 8 and up
 Steely_D wrote:
Cat Stevens was/is a really great amalgam: gruff manly voice with some tender emotional lyrics. 

An important part of this complete breakfast... I mean, adolescence. I got so lucky to have grown up in the 70s.
 
Right on!
 Old_Pat wrote:
Memorable times...... Young GI in Germany - off-base apartment.  Wondrous experiences. Some of which I remember.... 

 
{#Ask}
Memorable times...... Young GI in Germany - off-base apartment.  Wondrous experiences. Some of which I remember.... 
 SeriousLee wrote:
Where do the children play? In the political forums. That's where the children play.

 
True for the States especially these days.How about we make him stop fuzzing around with our children's playground called earth! Let the innocent children play, make the destructive egoists disappear.
 
Whoo, I feel there's a song in this as well - a sad one, though.
It's a little dusty in here....{#Cry}
Cat Stevens was/is a really great amalgam: gruff manly voice with some tender emotional lyrics. 

An important part of this complete breakfast... I mean, adolescence. I got so lucky to have grown up in the 70s.
Back in 5th grade, I made a slide show to this song about pollution and protecting our planet.  More than 50 years later, seems like I need to do it again.  Sad, but a great song nonetheless.
Just came back from seeing "The Post" and it was superb; timely protest at its finest! Just like Cat back in the day... There was a hip priest at church when I was a kid who used to play acoustic guitar and sing this and other protest songs to us... Lo, The Flux of History
 westslope wrote:
Gee, I dunno.  Salman Rushdie is a pompous blowhard. 
Terrific song.
 
{#Roflol}
Found a Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs release of this album the other day.  Got a few crack and pops for sure but still oohh so good.
 SeriousLee wrote:
Where do the children play? In the political forums. That's where the children play.

 
I've noticed that, too.
linz_bobinz wrote:
My parents played this album a lot during my childhood. How fitting!

 
Me too... so sweet memories!{#Hug}
Such a classic album!
 sunflowerbee wrote:
{#Meditate}

 
{#Notworthy}  {#Sunny} 
My parents played this album a lot during my childhood. How fitting!
Where do the children play? In the political forums. That's where the children play.
 westslope wrote:
Gee, I dunno.  Salman Rushdie is a pompous blowhard. 

Terrific song.

 
So...Off with his head?
{#Meditate}
Beautiful.
Outstanding album for me too         Peace 
Ah Cat...or Yusuf.  Such a sweet tune; set of them actually, from that period back in the day. 

Back in the naivete of my youth I thought you were touching upon something profound.  Here's the strange thing.  I think this still and I am well on past those times.  The profound is timeless in its scope, and it reaches out to each and every one of us in a fashion most suitable to our feeling its touch. 

Highlow
American Net'Zen
 adpucci wrote:

only apparently he never said that.

 
 
Exactly!  This was a rumor perpetuated for years during a period when Cat Stevens had given up music and was not in the public sphere. 

"I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini—and still don’t. —Cat Stevens"
 WonderLizard wrote:

I'll never forget the image of Harold and his banjo on the seaside cliff.

 
"Alot of people enjoy being DEAD"  But they are't dead really{#Roflol}
 Gegenschein wrote:
HIS VOICE......melting away...... it goes through every single cell......very sexy

 
Still sounds great, when he played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction a couple years ago, it was like he had not lost a beat.
 melzabutch wrote:

Awesome album and reminds me of this awesome film. 



 
I'll never forget the image of Harold and his banjo on the seaside cliff.
 jmkate wrote:
He has given us some pretty great music.

 
Absof...lutely agree.... 
HIS VOICE......melting away...... it goes through every single cell......very sexy

This a fine reflection of the prior generation, and a good one at that.


 adpucci wrote:

only apparently he never said that.

 
 
Are you kidding? It's a direct quote. You can watch the interview for yourself here. The quoted section starts at about 1:40.
He has given us some pretty great music.
I am so conflicted...{#Doh}
Gee, I dunno.  Salman Rushdie is a pompous blowhard. 

Terrific song.

Awesome album and reminds me of this awesome film. 


One of the only tracks I call upon PSD anymore.
I HATE Cat Sevens.  Not even his real name.  'Course that's not unusual.  He just came along at a really bad time in my life and is associated with the worst time of my twenties. So don't kill anybody but I call economic fatwa on the Cat.
 Shimmer wrote:
This guy's support of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie disqualifies him in my eyes. I just can't enjoy his music any more.

Q: You don't think that this man deserves to die?
Cat Stevens: Who, Salman Rushdie?

Q: Yes.
Cat Stevens: Yes, yes.

Q: Would you be part of that protest, Yusuf Islam, would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?
Cat Stevens: I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens%27_comments_about_Salman_Rushdie

 
only apparently he never said that.

 

Beautiful song from a really great album.  Just amazing ....

 
Saw Cat Stevens at an impromptu show at Worcester Polytech in 1970.  Everyone sat on the floor in a small hall.  One light in the room on him.  It was surreal and sublime.
 By_The_Bay wrote:

She's at the zoo with her grandkids.

 
{#Roflol}
 By_The_Bay wrote:

She's at the zoo with her grandkids.

 
Hah! Reality check!
 max_p wrote:
Memories of this as a 1974 high school party, stoned  make out song. Debbie, where are you now?

 
She's at the zoo with her grandkids.
There's an Eels song that echoes the melodic theme of this that I really like, and I can't deny that Cat sure was on top back in the day.
This guy's support of the fatwa against Salman Rushdie disqualifies him in my eyes. I just can't enjoy his music any more.

Q: You don't think that this man deserves to die?
Cat Stevens: Who, Salman Rushdie?

Q: Yes.
Cat Stevens: Yes, yes.

Q: Would you be part of that protest, Yusuf Islam, would you go to a demonstration where you knew that an effigy was going to be burned?
Cat Stevens: I would have hoped that it'd be the real thing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_Stevens%27_comments_about_Salman_Rushdie
Great to see him get into the R&R Hall of fame this year.  He still sounds GREAT afyer all of these years https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-cat-looks-back-yusuf-islam-on-his-rock-hall-of-fame-honor-20140404
hate his voice....
Possession of a stolen shovel.
 steeler wrote:


Hmmm . . .
What did 25 or 6 to 4 say to you?  
 
Yup, I often got to bed that late.

... and certainly not getting laid as often as Cat Stevens.


Yousuf Islam Version - What an Amazing Voice
Memories of this as a 1974 high school party, stoned  make out song. Debbie, where are you now?

Just got off phone with insurance agent having health coverage and deductibles explained...

This song has different meaning today than long ago drinking Boones Farm and eating KFC....


 Hasan wrote:
I was 16 when this came out.

Abraxas spoke to me.   Let it Bleed spoke to me.   Ummagumma spoke to me.  Chicago Transit Authority spoke to me.  Woodstock spoke to me.  Band of Gypsies spoke to me.   Stand Up spoke to me.  Disraeli Gears spoke to me.  Zepp II spoke to me.   Live at Leeds spoke to me.   Morrison Hotel spoke to me.   ELP spoke to me.   Lizard spoke to me.   Gasoline Alley spoke to me.

No room for Cat Stevens in that crowd.  He was simply too thin, pallid and shallow.  Still is.

 

Hmmm . . .


What did 25 or 6 to 4 say to you?  
Memories of sitting in the studio, oil paint and cigarettes and this album repeat.  I can almost smell it.
 Hasan wrote:
I was 16 when this came out.

Abraxas spoke to me.   Let it Bleed spoke to me.   Ummagumma spoke to me.  Chicago Transit Authority spoke to me.  Woodstock spoke to me.  Band of Gypsies spoke to me.   Stand Up spoke to me.  Disraeli Gears spoke to me.  Zepp II spoke to me.   Live at Leeds spoke to me.   Morrison Hotel spoke to me.   ELP spoke to me.   Lizard spoke to me.   Gasoline Alley spoke to me.

No room for Cat Stevens in that crowd.  He was simply too thin, pallid and shallow.  Still is.

 
Well stated, and still is.  I was a little older than 16, and if a girl liked Cat Stevens, I looked for a new girl.  That part is still true, too.
Cat Stevens is alive in these songs, if you decide an artist is dead that's it... they're dead. or else you can hear the songs they wrote, or see the artwork, and appreciate those strong moments
 Highlowsel wrote:
VERY MUCH SO!



 


 On_The_Beach wrote:
Still topical today (41 years later) . . .

Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train
Switch on summer from a slot machine
Yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you roll on roads over fresh green grass
For your lorry loads, pumping petrol gas
And you make them long, and you make them tough
But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can't get off

Oh, I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air
But will you keep on building higher till there's no more room up there
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

*******

ABSO'FREAKIN'LUTELY it's still topical.

Highlow
American Net'Zen

 


 boooooo!! LOL
lkovathana wrote:
OK, that song was annoying.

 


Cat is... Gone gone gone.
Poor cat. 

One of his best.

 

As for his anti-colonial beliefs........


The poster before me nailed it. Xbox is where the children play.

Say what you want about Cat Stevens, but I really like this song.
 
Playstation / Wii / X-Box - It's Sad
 Hasan wrote:
I was 16 when this came out.

Abraxas spoke to me.   Let it Bleed spoke to me.   Ummagumma spoke to me.  Chicago Transit Authority spoke to me.  Woodstock spoke to me.  Band of Gypsies spoke to me.   Stand Up spoke to me.  Disraeli Gears spoke to me.  Zepp II spoke to me.   Live at Leeds spoke to me.   Morrison Hotel spoke to me.   ELP spoke to me.   Lizard spoke to me.   Gasoline Alley spoke to me.

No room for Cat Stevens in that crowd.  He was simply too thin, pallid and shallow.  Still is.
 

 Even then, he appealed to my softer side. The lyrics alone were always worthy of my praise
 Hasan wrote:
I was 16 when this came out.

Abraxas spoke to me.   Let it Bleed spoke to me.   Ummagumma spoke to me.  Chicago Transit Authority spoke to me.  Woodstock spoke to me.  Band of Gypsies spoke to me.   Stand Up spoke to me.  Disraeli Gears spoke to me.  Zepp II spoke to me.   Live at Leeds spoke to me.   Morrison Hotel spoke to me.   ELP spoke to me.   Lizard spoke to me.   Gasoline Alley spoke to me.

No room for Cat Stevens in that crowd.  He was simply too thin, pallid and shallow.  Still is.
 
I was 7 when this came out.  My dad played it alot.  Never heard all of those albums until years later.  This album still speaks to me.
I was 16 when this came out.

Abraxas spoke to me.   Let it Bleed spoke to me.   Ummagumma spoke to me.  Chicago Transit Authority spoke to me.  Woodstock spoke to me.  Band of Gypsies spoke to me.   Stand Up spoke to me.  Disraeli Gears spoke to me.  Zepp II spoke to me.   Live at Leeds spoke to me.   Morrison Hotel spoke to me.   ELP spoke to me.   Lizard spoke to me.   Gasoline Alley spoke to me.

No room for Cat Stevens in that crowd.  He was simply too thin, pallid and shallow.  Still is.
This is an outstanding album. Stevens is surly one of the greatest living songwriters and his voice soothes me like chocolate. Heavenly.
Back in Paradise after my detour through Metallica hell.
 Cynaera wrote:
This has always been one of my favorite Cat Stevens songs - except that every time I hear it, I want to hear more, so I end up listening to the whole "Tea For the Tillerman" CD, and then I want to hear "Catch Bull At Four," and then "Teaser and the Firecat," and then.... Well, you get it.  I love Cat's stuff. Don't care about his political/religious beliefs. I just care that his music is good for my ears.
 
I'm with you.

My dad turned me on to this album when I was 7.  Still love it.
{#Sleep}{#Puke}
Still topical today (41 years later) . . .

Well I think it's fine, building jumbo planes
Or taking a ride on a cosmic train
Switch on summer from a slot machine
Yes, get what you want to if you want, 'cause you can get anything

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you roll on roads over fresh green grass
For your lorry loads, pumping petrol gas
And you make them long, and you make them tough
But they just go on and on, and it seems that you can't get off

Oh, I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?

Well you've cracked the sky, scrapers fill the air
But will you keep on building higher till there's no more room up there
Will you make us laugh, will you make us cry?
Will you tell us when to live, will you tell us when to die?

I know we've come a long way
We're changing day to day
But tell me, where do the children play?