A cover of an old Cat Stevens song – Dave Overland on vocals.
“Wild World” is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It first appeared on his fourth album, Tea for the Tillerman (1970). Released as a single in September 1970 by Island Records and A&M Records, “Wild World” saw significant commercial success, garnering attention for its themes of love and heartbreak, and has been covered numerous times since its release. Maxi Priest and Mr. Big (released in 1988 and 1993 respectively) had successful cover versions of the song.
Song meaning
Stevens developed a relationship with actress Patti D’Arbanville and the two were a pair for roughly two years. During that time, he wrote several songs about her, including “Wild World”.
The song is in the form of the singer’s words to his departing lover, inspired by the end of their romance. Stevens later recalled to Mojo: “It was one of those chord sequences that’s very common in Spanish music. I turned it around and came up with that theme—which is a recurring theme in my work—which is to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond.”[1]
Released as a single in late 1970, it peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.[2] “Wild World” has been credited as the song that gave Stevens’ next album, Tea for the Tillerman, “enough kick” to get it played on FM radio; and Island Records’ Chris Blackwell called it “the best album we’ve ever released”.[3]
In November 2008, the Tea for the Tillerman CD was re-issued in a deluxe version which included the original demo of “Wild World”.
Interpretation
Some critics and music writers have deemed “Wild World” to be condescending and misogynistic.[4][5][6] In her 1971 essay “But Now I’m Gonna Move,” critic Ellen Willis described a method of revealing male bias in lyrics in which the listener imagines the genders reversed:
By this test, a diatribe like ‘Under My Thumb‘ is not nearly so sexist in its implications as, for example, Cat Stevens’s gentle, sympathetic ‘Wild World’; Jagger‘s fantasy of sweet revenge could easily be female—in fact, it has a female counterpart, Nancy Sinatra‘s ‘Boots’ — but it’s hard to imagine a woman sadly warning her ex-lover that he’s too innocent for the big bad world out there.[7]
(I gotta add in my pissing and moaning here. This is total bullshit – Ellen Willis should be ashamed of herself for this analogy. – Steve)
Personnel
- Cat Stevens – classical guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, lead vocals
- Alun Davies – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Harvey Burns – drums, congas, tambourine
- John Ryan – double bass