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Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.
Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
Son, away away away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone, no son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them you know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
Father, stay stay stay, why must you go and
Make this decision alone?
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.
Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
Son, away away away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone, no son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them you know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
Father, stay stay stay, why must you go and
Make this decision alone?
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I think the lyric "the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen" points quite a lot towards communism and dictatorship. Also could be between him and his Dad. Cat Stevens you are a genius, I hope the song meaning I found is right.
this is what I found -
This is about a Russian family where the son wants to join the revolution but his father wants him to stay home and work on the farm. Stevens made up the story, but his relationship with his own father was an influence on the song. When he appeared on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009, Stevens said: "He was running a restaurant and I was a Pop Star, so I wasn't following the path that he laid out. But we certainly didn't have any antagonism between us. I loved him and he loved me."
I think Cat Stevens was a genius in lyrics and meaning (many of which are very subtle) and this song is one of many. This is a great example of what happens to Fathers and Sons at an age where the son might feel like a man but the father is still treating him like a boy. This was written around Vietnam timeframe, the album came out in 1970. Many sons were saying, "Dad I'm a man and I want to join the service and go away to Vietnam" or "Dad this war is bs, I'm going away to live in Canada, or to protest the war, or to live in a commune"... We are not privy to what started the conversation. Think back to when you were this age and tried to have a conversation with a parent. Many parents don’t listen. Before you can finish the sentence, “Dad/Mom I’ve been thinking about taking my college money and cutting an album, and…“ And you don’t get to finish the sentence. Perhaps that is where this song starts. Whatever the son said, the father interrupts with “it’s not time to make a change, just sit down and take it easy”… (read -> you’re not going anywhere) This song makes it hard to judge the father, because he has such a soft voice, but his first sentence is still comes across as an order (Parent to small Child) and not an opinion (as if between adults). It is pleasantly worded, but in essence the father is saying, “this is the way it is going to be”. In the second sentence (about youth) the father insults him. What he is really saying is “Let me tell you what’s wrong with you”. He eventually says “but your dreams may not” giving us a clue that the son wants to chase his dreams and the father thinks his dream may be a fad (if the kid had the benefit of the father’s experience, the child would realize that he is wrong). Perhaps the father went through the same thing with his father and his dreams were crushed. Is the father right? If the kid was 18 and wanted to go to Nam instead of college some may agree with the father. If the kid was 18 and named Steven Demetre Georgiou (Cat), and wanted to forego college to pursue a music career, I’d have to agree with the kid.
So its a classic case of father wanting son to follow in his footsteps and son not wanting that.
"If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them you know not me" it should read
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them they know not me....
I know its only a minor error but at the same time it's pretty important. I'm pretty certain that it is an error. Because he is explaining that he is different from his father, and his father knows what's best for himself, but the son is a different person and his father does not necessarily know what's best for him. He wants his father to back off and let him live his own life and make his own mistakes, but he won't so he has to go away.
I feel that the song is written from two perspectives where some verses are the father's words, and others are from the son. The third and final versus are from the son's perspective, whereas the rest of the versus are from the father. The father is trying to guide his son through life by advising him and helping him and not wanting him to make any mistakes. From the father's perspective he is just trying to guide his son and help him and he wants what is best. Whereas the son feels like he is been controlled and put under too much pressure and he has tried to tell his dad in whatever way but he keeps "turning away". And I am sorry to those who think this song is not about depression, but having been through the exact same experience as this song (only with my mother instead of father) I can tell you that Cat Steven's most likely went through a period of depression because of his relationship with his father. That is if the song is written by himself. But it has to be, as such a powerful and moving song cannot be written by someone who has not experienced this situation. I have always loved Cat Steven's music, but I appreciate this song so much more now that I can actually relate fully to the lyrics.
In summary, this song is about how the son's relationship with his father has driven him into depression and the only way anything changing is if he moves away as he feels he has tried everything else. But most importantly it is such a brilliant and moving song. Sorry for the long post, but this song is the most important song in my life right now....