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Rating: "Mona Bone Jakon", a title that sounds like a magic formula, particularly appreciated by the Venetians, for whom the first word already has at least a propitiatory, if not a truly magical value. But beyond the wordplay, there's really something unnatural in the leap in quality that the young Steven Georgiou, then Cat Stevens and currently Yusuf Islam (Allah is great, as we know), made starting from this album.
It's 1970, and the Hellenic-English or Anglo-Greek singer-songwriter, whichever you prefer, has a good number of songs behind him that can be described as no more than "nice", generally sacrificed by banal pop arrangements, and too often drowned under cloying layers of violins that stifle their liveliness. Here, instead, even if we're not yet at the excellence levels of "Tea For The Tillerman", the unmistakable style of Cat Stevens is already, as if by magic, well-defined: a kind of "English country" made of tender acoustic ballads, embellished by skillful interweaving between acoustic guitars and the piano, into which occasionally sneaks the flute of a then unknown Peter Gabriel (Genesis was still composing "Trespass"). Worthy examples of captivating slows are the elegiac "Maybe You're Right", with its beautiful tight dialogue between piano and guitar, and the dreamlike "Trouble", which seems a profound evolution of the candid but somewhat insubstantial ballads of the minstrel Donovan. Moderately agitated is "I Think I See The Light", with its peremptory piano notes, which impose a decisive rhythm, albeit with a sparing use of percussion, which instead acoustically accompany the elementary yet somewhat gloomy chords of the very brief "Mona Bone Jakon". Other pleasant episodes include "I Wish I Wish", with a determined flair that already anticipates the future "Wild World", but with a less inspired theme, and the ironic "Pop Star", where Cat Stevens seems to make fun of what he had been until then, and instead rejoices in having finally landed on the music that is most congenial to him. The interlude "Time" and the subsequent "Fill My Eyes", connected to each other without any interruption, are an oasis of calm created by the impeccable classical guitars of Cat Stevens and the trusty Alun Davies. Only in the finale "Lilywhite" do the invasive violins of the initial days make a comeback, but in a way that isn’t heavy enough to affect the listening: the sound remains all things considered rather akin to the rest of the album. So far, so good, but not great. I deliberately left for last the two masterpieces that raise the album’s level from good to excellent (using debaserian figures, a nice 4.5 which I cannot give). "Lady D'Arbanville" opens as best it could, with Mediterranean arpeggios reminiscent of the metallic "bouzouki" typical of Cat Stevens’ second homeland, but soon unleashes a kind of sinister Latin rhythm, almost a dark samba, punctuated by a soft bass and typically discreet percussion. Altogether, it seems tailor-made to perfectly accompany an ironically macabre text. "Katmandu" has a special charm of its own, between the arcane and the exotic, achieved with remarkable economy of means.
Practically a few inspired interventions by Peter Gabriel's flute inserted between the verses of this evocative ballad are enough, and here we are elevated to high altitude, with wild and unspoiled stretches before our eyes that invite meditation even if you don't intend to. No special effects, just a lot of imagination, and the beauty is that it works. On the whole, this is certainly not the best Cat Stevens, but it is nevertheless already him in every respect, which is no small feat. It's not a case of being deceived by the bin on the cover, which is definitely empty. The trash is elsewhere.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Lady d'Arbanville (03:46)
My lady darbanville, why do you sleep so still?
Ill wake you tomorrow
And you will be my fill, yes, you will be my fill.
My lady darbanville why does it grieve me so?
But your heart seems so silent.
Why do you breathe so low, why do you breathe so low,
My lady darbanville why do you sleep so still?
Ill wake you tomorrow
And you will be my fill, yes, you will be my fill.
My lady darbanville, you look so cold tonight.
Your lips feel like winter,
Your skin has turned to white, your skin has turned to white.
My lady darbanville, why do you sleep so still?
Ill wake you tomorrow
And you will be my fill, yes, you will be my fill.
La la la la la....
My lady darbanville why does it grieve me so?
But your heart seems so silent.
Why do you breathe so low, why do you breathe so low,
I loved you my lady, though in your grave you lie,
Ill always be with you
This rose will never die, this rose will never die.
I loved you my lady, though in your grave you lie,
Ill always be with you
This rose will never die, this rose will never die.
02 Maybe You're Right (03:26)
Now maybe you're right and maybe you're wrong
But I ain't gonna argue with you no more
I've done it for too long.
It was getting so good why then, where did it go?
I can't think about it no more tell me if you know.
You were loving me, I was loving you
But now there aint nothing but regretting
nothing, nothing but regretting everything we do.
I put up with your lies like you put up with mine,
But God knows we should have stopped somewhere,
we could have taken the time,
But time has turned, yes, some call it the end.
So tell me, tell me did you really love me like a friend?
You know you don't have to pretend,
It's all over now It'll never happen again, no no no,
it'll never happen again , it won't happen again
Never, never, never, it'll never happen again
No, no, no, no.....
So maybe you're right, and maybe you're wrong
But I ain't gonna argue with you no more
I've done it for too long.
It was getting so good why then, where did it go?
I can't think about it no more tell me if you know.
You were loving me, I was loving you
But now there aint nothing but regretting
nothing, nothing but regretting everything we do.
04 I Think I See the Light (03:56)
I used to trust nobody, trusting even less their words,
until I found somebody, there was no one I preferred,
my heart was made of stone, my eyes saw only misty grey,
Until you came into my life girl, I saw everyone that way.
Until I found the one I needed at my side,
I think I would have been a sad man all my life.
I think I see the light coming to me,
coming through me giving me a second sight.
So shine, shine, shine,
shine, shine, shine,
shine, shine, shine.
I used to walk alone, every step seemed the same.
This world was not my home, so there was nothing much to gain.
Look up and see the clouds, look down and see the cold floor.
Until you came into my life girl, I saw nothing, nothing more.
Until I found the one I needed at my side,
I think I would have been a sad man all my life.
I think I see the light coming to me,
coming through me giving me a second sight.
So shine, shine, shine,
shine, shine, shine,
shine, shine, shine.
05 Trouble (02:47)
Trouble oh, trouble set me free.
I have seen your face and it's too much, too much for me.
Trouble, oh , trouble can't you see?
You're eating my heart away
and there's nothing much left of me.
I have drunk you wine.
You have made yours worth mine
so won't you be fair?
So won't you be fair?
I don't want no more of you
so won't you be kind to me
so let me go where,
I want to go there.
Trouble
Oh, trouble
move away
I have seen your face
and It's to much for me today.
Trouble, oh, trouble
can't you see?
You have made me a wreck
now won't you leave me in my misery?
I have seen your eyes
and I can see Death's disguise
hangin' on me, hangin' on me.
I am beat and torn,
shattered and tossed and worn,
too shabby to see
too shocky to see
Trouble, oh, trouble
move from me
I have paid my debt
now won't you leave me in my misery.
Trouble, oh, trouble
please be kind.
I don't want no fight
and I haven't got a lot of time.
07 I Wish, I Wish (03:48)
I wish I knew, I wish I knew
What makes me me, what makes you you.
It's just another point of view. Ooh..
A state of mind I'm going through. Yes..
So what I see is never true. Ah..
I wish I could tell, I wish I could tell
What makes a Heaven, what makes a Hell
And do I get to ring my bell? Ooh..
Or land up in some dusty cell? No..
While others reach the big hotel? Yeah..
I wish I had, I wish I had
The secret of good and the secret of bad.
Why does this question drive me mad? Ah..
'Cause I was taught when but a lad. Yes..
That bad was good and good was bad. Ah..
I wish I knew the mystery of
That thing called hate and that thing called love.
What makes the in between so rough? Ah..
Why is it always push and shove? Ah..
I guess I just don't know enough. Yes..
08 Katmandu (03:23)
I sit beside the dark - beneath the mire
cold grey dusty day - the morning lake drinks up the sky
Katmandu, I'll soon be seeing you
and your strange - bewildering time will hold me down.
Chop me some broken wood - we'll start a fire
white warm, light the dawn and help me see, old Satan's tree
Katmandu, I'll soon be seeing you
and your strange - bewildering time will hold me down.
Pass me my hat and coat - lock up the cabin
slow night treat me right until I go - be nice to know
Katmandu, I'll soon be seeing you
and your strange bewildering time will keep me home.
09 Time (01:26)
Time rise. Time fall.
Time leaves you nothing, nothing at all
words just words don't know
words take you nowhere, nowhere to go
--to go . . .
back . . . I'm going back. . . .
ooh. . . going back.
11 Lilywhite (03:44)
Back up on the mended road
I pause
taking time to check the dial
And the Lilywhite
I never knew her name
But she'll be passing my way sometime again.
I raise my hand and touch the wheel
of change
taking time to check the dial
Thank the Lilywhite
I never knew her name
But she'll be passing my way sometime again.
But she'll be passing my way sometime again.
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