Emerging from his recuperation with a new deal with Island Records, 1970 saw the release of Mona Bone Jakon, and with it a new sound which would forge the Cat Stevens sound we know and love today. I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022.

I never connected with the later albums, (I thought he went a bit - Cliff Richard) but listening again to 'Sad Lisa' from Tea for the Tillerman, his next album, it is possible to hear a common thread. Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better. After a meteoric start to his career, surprising even his original producer at Deram Records with the hit singles " I Love My Dog", " Matthew and Son", and " I'm Gonna Get Me a Gun", Stevens' debut album, Matthew and Son, began charting.I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. To commemorate the album’s 50th anniversary comes this expanded 2CD edition which includes a stunning new 2020 remaster of ‘Mona Bone Jakon’ by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road, overseen by original producer Paul Samwell-Smith, plus a second disc of demos and live rarities and booklet with full sleevenotes.

He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. He added that "Stevens' craggy voice, with its odd breaks of tone and occasional huskiness, lent these sometimes sketchy songs depth".Sounding as fresh as the day it was recorded, the original album is represented here by a brand new 2020 remaster of Mona Bone Jakon by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road, overseen by original producer Paul Samwell-Smith 2020 on CD, as well as a new 2020 Mix by David Hefti on both CD and LP.

People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry.But they are all good songs and good arrangements, given the standards of the time, which was to put violins on anything that resembled a ballad. Song like Katmandu are all very well but the sentiment and the tinkly glockenspiel verge on consigning it to the schlock hopper. There were also lighter songs: "Pop Star" showcased Stevens' dramatic change in voice by satirising the triviality of celebrity. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others.