{"id":7353,"date":"2025-06-08T16:14:01","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T20:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/?p=7353"},"modified":"2025-06-09T16:27:38","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T20:27:38","slug":"wild-world-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/?p=7353","title":{"rendered":"Wild World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A cover of an old Cat Stevens song &#8211; Dave Overland on vocals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/www.baselines.com\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/all-songs\/mp3\/Wild_World_2025.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"993\" height=\"1019\" src=\"https:\/\/baselines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wild_World_2025-993x1019.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7354\" style=\"width:596px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/baselines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wild_World_2025-993x1019.jpg 993w, https:\/\/baselines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wild_World_2025-877x900.jpg 877w, https:\/\/baselines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wild_World_2025-768x788.jpg 768w, https:\/\/baselines.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Wild_World_2025-624x640.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 993px) 100vw, 993px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Wild World<\/strong>&#8221; is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cat_Stevens\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Cat Stevens<\/a>. It first appeared on his fourth album,&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tea_for_the_Tillerman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tea for the Tillerman<\/a><\/em>&nbsp;(1970). Released as a single in September 1970 by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Island_Records\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Island Records<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/A%26M_Records\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A&amp;M Records<\/a>, &#8220;Wild World&#8221; saw significant commercial success, garnering attention for its themes of love and heartbreak, and has been covered numerous times since its release.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Maxi_Priest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Maxi Priest<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mr._Big_(American_band)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mr. Big<\/a>&nbsp;(released in 1988 and 1993 respectively) had successful cover versions of the song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Song_meaning\">Song meaning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Stevens developed a relationship with actress&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Patti_D%27Arbanville\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Patti D&#8217;Arbanville<\/a>&nbsp;and the two were a pair for roughly two years. During that time, he wrote several songs about her, including &#8220;Wild World&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The song is in the form of the singer&#8217;s words to his departing lover, inspired by the end of their romance. Stevens later recalled to&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mojo_(magazine)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mojo<\/a><\/em>: &#8220;It was one of those chord sequences that&#8217;s very common in Spanish music. I turned it around and came up with that theme\u2014which is a recurring theme in my work\u2014which is to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond.&#8221;<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Released as a single in late 1970, it peaked at No. 11 on the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Billboard_Hot_100\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Billboard<\/em>&nbsp;Hot 100<\/a>&nbsp;chart.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[2]<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;&#8220;Wild World&#8221; has been credited as the song that gave Stevens&#8217; next album,&nbsp;<em><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tea_for_the_Tillerman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tea for the Tillerman<\/a><\/em>, &#8220;enough kick&#8221; to get it played on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/FM_radio\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FM radio<\/a>; and Island Records&#8217;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chris_Blackwell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chris Blackwell<\/a>&nbsp;called it &#8220;the best album we&#8217;ve ever released&#8221;.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-Scoppa-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[3]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In November 2008, the&nbsp;<em>Tea for the Tillerman<\/em>&nbsp;CD was re-issued in a deluxe version which included the original demo of &#8220;Wild World&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Interpretation\">Interpretation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Some critics and music writers have deemed &#8220;Wild World&#8221; to be condescending and misogynistic.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[4]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[5]<\/a><\/sup><sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[6]<\/a><\/sup>&nbsp;In her 1971 essay &#8220;But Now I&#8217;m Gonna Move,&#8221; critic&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ellen_Willis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ellen Willis<\/a>&nbsp;described a method of revealing male bias in lyrics in which the listener imagines the genders reversed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>By this test, a diatribe like &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Under_My_Thumb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Under My Thumb<\/a>&#8216; is not nearly so sexist in its implications as, for example, Cat Stevens&#8217;s gentle, sympathetic &#8216;Wild World&#8217;;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mick_Jagger\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jagger<\/a>&#8216;s fantasy of sweet revenge could easily be female\u2014in fact, it has a female counterpart,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nancy_Sinatra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Nancy Sinatra<\/a>&#8216;s &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/These_Boots_Are_Made_for_Walkin%27\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Boots&#8217;<\/a>&nbsp;\u2014 but it&#8217;s hard to imagine a woman sadly warning her ex-lover that he&#8217;s too innocent for the big bad world out there.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wild_World_(song)#cite_note-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[7]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>(I gotta add in my pissing and moaning here.  This is total bullshit &#8211; Ellen Willis should be ashamed of herself for this analogy. &#8211; Steve)<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"Personnel\">Personnel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cat Stevens \u2013 classical guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, lead vocals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Alun_Davies_(guitarist)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Alun Davies<\/a>&nbsp;\u2013 acoustic guitar, backing vocals<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Harvey Burns \u2013 drums, congas, tambourine<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>John Ryan \u2013 double bass<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<script>\nvar zbPregResult = '0';\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A cover of an old Cat Stevens song &#8211; Dave Overland on vocals. &#8220;Wild World&#8221; is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter&nbsp;Cat Stevens. It first appeared on his fourth album,&nbsp;Tea for the Tillerman&nbsp;(1970). Released as a single in September 1970 by&nbsp;Island Records&nbsp;and&nbsp;A&amp;M Records, &#8220;Wild World&#8221; saw significant commercial success, garnering attention for its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7353"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7357,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7353\/revisions\/7357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baselines.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}