Pop star revisits past glory for tsunami victims

Pop star revisits past glory for tsunami victims

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The tragedy in Aceh moved Yusuf Islam to revisit his past as
pop singer Cat Stevens.

Abandoning his musical career 24 years ago to adopt a strict
Muslim lifestyle, Yusuf walked down memory lane on Monday by
singing a moving rendition of his seventies hit Wild World at a
charity concert to raise money for the construction of hospitals
in tsunami-affected areas.

Yusuf also composed Indian Ocean, a new song marked by his
signature sound of gentle folk music coupled with his gravelly
voice. Yusuf premiered the song during a charity show organized
by the International Islamic Committee for Aceh Reconstruction,
the Concern for Aceh Indonesian Community and music promoter Java
Musikindo.

Wild World, a song that describes the lurking dangers of city
life and was originally composed by Stevens for reggae superstar
Jimmy Cliff, took on a whole new meaning for Yusuf after the
tsunami.

"In the seventies, the world was wild. Later it was wilder and
then turned the wildest lately and the people of Aceh were turned
upside down," Yusuf said before singing the song.

Backed by Kyai Kanjeng, an ensemble of musicians playing
traditional Javanese instruments conducted by poet Emha Ainun
Nadjib, Yusuf sang the song with a tear in his voice.

Indian Ocean is a call for more affluent countries to lend a
hand to tsunami victims.

It tells the story of a European couple who went for a
holiday, seeking paradise on a tropical island in the Indian
Ocean, when the tsunami struck. After surviving the tidal wave by
climbing up a hill, on the way down the couple found an orphaned
child and decided to look after him.

"Looking after the child was the true paradise they wanted to
find. There are people who are waiting now for people like us to
help them.

"If we look after the poor then God will look after us," Yusuf
said, quoting a verse from the Koran.

Indian Ocean was recorded by the singer in response to the
tragedy and is to be released next month. The original version of
the song features Magne Furuholmen of Norwegian pop group A-ha
and Neil Primrose of Britpop band Travis, and makes use of
musical instruments Yusuf has eschewed since embracing Islam.

However, Yusuf said earlier that the song did not represent a
revival of his pop career.

"It's not a return to Cat Stevens, I see it more as a natural
response to express my concern as a Muslim and as an artist. I
believe both can exist side by side, particularly when the cause
is right," he said.

Prior to the concert, Yusuf toured Meulaboh and Calang, two
cities hard hit by the tsunami, and witnessed the utter
destruction of nature's wrath. He prayed at the Baiturrahman
Grand Mosque before touring the two cities.

Yusuf, who had several hits in the seventies with songs like
Matthew and Son, Peace Train and The Wind, has engaged in
humanitarian efforts over the past several decades through his
charity foundation Small Kindness. He plans to open a regional
branch of the foundation here during his visit.

Over the years, Yusuf has lost many of his original fans from
the sixties and seventies. He was quoted as calling for the death
of writer Salman Rusdhie for his controversial book Satanic
Verses.