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"This
is my contribution to the call for a peaceful solution…,"
Yusuf Islam
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JOHANNESBURG,
March 15 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Yusuf Islam, formerly pop
musician Cat Stevens, has gone to South Africa to record a new version
and clip of his 1972 anti-war song "Peace Train" with local
musicians, the press said Saturday, March 15.
"The
new release of Peace Train does not signify a comeback of Cat Stevens,
but I believe that I have a role to play to help avert a war and a
humanitarian crisis and the words of the song speak for
themselves," the folk-rock star of the 1970s told Johannesburg's
Saturday Star, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
"Though
times have changed, it's a nice surprise to see that youthful feeling of
anti-war sentiment returning once more to the cobbled main streets of
Europe," Islam adds on his website, where the song can be
downloaded free.
"Peace
Train is a song I wrote, the message of which continues to breeze
thunderously through the hearts of millions of human beings and there is
a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again.
"Thirty
years later, as Yusuf Islam, I have more right and more reason to
reclaim this anthem of my evolutionary Cat Stevens period, that's why I
rerecorded it. As a member of humanity and as a Muslim, this is my
contribution to the call for a peaceful solution to the dangerous path
some world leaders today seem to be taking," said Islam on his
site.
Islam's
visit was initially planned for a Nelson Mandela charity concert for
AIDS, which has been indefinitely postponed, but he told the Saturday
Star that he was delighted to make his first recording in 25 years in a
country with South Africa's recent history.
"South
Africa has played a crucial role in reconciliation on the continent and
further a field and the approach of the South African government in
addressing conflict is a lesson many other countries should learn,"
he said.
The
song and the video clip are due to be broadcast during Saturday's
"One Big No" anti-war concert in London, where Islam now
lives. He has also recorded "Angel of War", to the melody of
his hit "Lady D'Arbanville".
Earlier
this year, Islam told school students in the UAE that Muslims
"don’t want to be fought" for their religion, UAE newspaper,
the Gulf News reported.
"Western
media is only looking at a minority which they think represents
Islam," the paper quoted him saying.
Islam
also told the paper that the west has "gone too far in the
over-indulgence of the senses."
"Music
is one of the things which delights people. But it should be used with
wisdom," he said.
Yusuf
Islam became Muslim in 1977. Following a 17-year hiatus from the music
business, he returned in 1995 and has since released three albums of
Islam related songs, The Life of the Last Prophet (1995), Prayers of the
Last Prophet (1999) and a record for children, A Is for Allah (2000). He
has sold more than 40 million albums, though few of those are from his
Yusuf Islam era.
Click
here to read the lyrics of Peace Train
