I see what has already been posted here. It's interesting that Cat Stevens originally made his interviews more interesting by talking about UFOs, and later said it was more about appreciating your land (or planet) and being aware that another country (or aliens) could come and take it from you (like the boats that came from Scandinavia to conquer Britain).
As I read through the lyrics, I personally interpret the lyrics to be saying "I live in a peaceful land that does not have a religion that involves worshiping a god. People will eventually come and push religion on me and those who live here, and to my neighbors I say don't let them."
To break it down:
"Longer boats are coming to win us. Hold on to the shore." Missionaries will come to our land to "win us over" with their religion. But "hold on to the shore" my friends! Don't let them take over this land and convert it to their religion!
"I don't want no god on my lawn. Just a flower I can help along. Because the soul of nobody knows how a flower grows." I don't want to become a devout follower of a god to worship, with statues of the saints and manger scenes and such. I just want the simple beauty of a flower on my land. And quite frankly, I don't think these religious folks really have the right answer of how the Earth and the things on it (like flowers) came to be. Nobody has those answers.
"Mary dropped her pants by the sand and let a parson come and take her hand. But the soul of nobody knows where the parson goes." I heard of a woman who was convinced to become a devout follower and she left our wonderful land to join those religious folks. And nobody has heard from her since. Where did the priest and his congregation take her? I don't know. Is she still as happy as she once was? We don't know.
I see what has already been posted here. It's interesting that Cat Stevens originally made his interviews more interesting by talking about UFOs, and later said it was more about appreciating your land (or planet) and being aware that another country (or aliens) could come and take it from you (like the boats that came from Scandinavia to conquer Britain).
As I read through the lyrics, I personally interpret the lyrics to be saying "I live in a peaceful land that does not have a religion that involves worshiping a god. People will eventually come and push religion on me and those who live here, and to my neighbors I say don't let them."
To break it down:
"Longer boats are coming to win us. Hold on to the shore." Missionaries will come to our land to "win us over" with their religion. But "hold on to the shore" my friends! Don't let them take over this land and convert it to their religion!
"I don't want no god on my lawn. Just a flower I can help along. Because the soul of nobody knows how a flower grows." I don't want to become a devout follower of a god to worship, with statues of the saints and manger scenes and such. I just want the simple beauty of a flower on my land. And quite frankly, I don't think these religious folks really have the right answer of how the Earth and the things on it (like flowers) came to be. Nobody has those answers.
"Mary dropped her pants by the sand and let a parson come and take her hand. But the soul of nobody knows where the parson goes." I heard of a woman who was convinced to become a devout follower and she left our wonderful land to join those religious folks. And nobody has heard from her since. Where did the priest and his congregation take her? I don't know. Is she still as happy as she once was? We don't know.