Oh Very Young - Cat Stevens (1974)

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"Oh Very Young" was released on Buddha And The Chocolate Box, Cat Steven's 8th album, in the winter of 1974.

Cat Stevens was one of the very first artists whose albums I was exposed to from my older cousin's album collection, and along with Paul McCartney, George Harrison, John Lennon solo records, Elton John, Jethro Tull, Leon Russell and a few others....some of the music that made me fall in love with music in my early youth.

Cat Stevens Greatest Hits, released in 1975 and one of the first albums I ever owned, was among my very first favorite albums (though actually a compilation and not an album proper).....for several years this record was never far from my turntable. These songs used to carry some very heavy weight in the seventies, and though time has caused them to fade a bit, listening to them all now, they are every bit as beautiful and artistic as ever. Some of the greatest songs of a generation by a truly inspired, spiritual and talented singer-songwriter.

"Oh Very Young" remains today what it always was and always will be, an achingly beautiful reminder that we're all "only dancing on this earth for a short while". I hope you enjoy the video effort!

From AllMusic.com:
While Foreigner was Cat Stevens' fifth consecutive gold album and his fourth straight Top Ten hit, it actually marked a small drop commercially and encountered critical resistance for the lengthy suite that took up all of side one. Eight months later, Buddha and the Chocolate Box found Stevens back in England and back with producer Paul Samwell-Smith and second guitarist Alun Davies. It also marked a return to the simpler style of earlier albums. No song ran much over five minutes, the arrangements were sparer and featured more acoustic guitar, and the lyrics did not take off into discursive ruminations about the state of the universe. It was very much as if Stevens was deliberately trying to make an album like Teaser and the Firecat, his commercial and artistic apex. Having begun the album with an ode to "Music" and its potential for reforming the world, he ended with "Home in the Sky," in which he sang, "Music is a lady that I still love." Such statements of renewed commitment added to the sense that the album was consciously crafted as an attempted second wind for the singer, who had been recording and performing at a torrid pace since returning to the music business full-time four years before. But that was not to say that he had abandoned the spiritual nature of his creative quest, and the songs were, as usual, littered with religious imagery. Stevens' fans responded warmly to Buddha and the Chocolate Box's stylistic return to form. "Oh Very Young" became his first Top Ten hit in two years, and the album was held out of number one only by The Sting. The album's tone, however, suggested that Stevens was once again wearying of being a pop star, even as he delivered a record that maintained that status.


[Lyrics]
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
And though your dreams may toss and turn you now
They will vanish away like your daddy's best jeans
Denim Blue fading up to the sky
And though you want him to last forever
You know he never will
(You know he never will)
And the patches make the goodbye harder still

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
There'll never be a better chance to change your mind
And if you want this world to see a better day
Will you carry the words of love with you
Will you ride the great white bird into heaven
And though you want to last forever
You know you never will
(You know you never will)
And the goodbye makes the journey harder still

Oh very young
What will you leave us this time
You're only dancing on this earth for a short while
Oh very young
What will you leave us this time