This is a post about how a song with a plea for peace got very complicated.
Everybody get on the ‘Peace Train’ and together we can look forward to the good things to come.
‘Peace Train’ was written by Cat Stevens aka ‘Yusuf Islam’ just over fifty years ago. He wrote it while riding on a train. His mind wandered to Alfred Hitchcock movies and how they frequently had scenes that took place on a train. The moment made him consider his present position in life. He was content. He took note of the fact that this contradicted what was going on in the world.
How could the two things be so incongruent?
For Cat Stevens the idea took form as a song aimed to unify everyone. Here are the lyrics to ‘Peace Train’.
Now I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come
Cat Stevens
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh I’ve been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be, someday it’s going to come
Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again
Now I’ve been smiling lately, thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be, something good has begun
Oh peace train sounding louder
Glide on the peace train
Come on now peace train
Yes, peace train holy roller
Everyone jump upon the peace train
Come on now peace train
Get your bags together, go bring your good friends too
Cause it’s getting nearer, it soon will be with you
Now come and join the living, it’s not so far from you
And it’s getting nearer, soon it will all be true
Now I’ve been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can’t we live in bliss
Cause out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train
Oh peace train take this country, come take me home again”
You will notice that Cat Stevens begins the song with the line
I’ve been happy lately, thinking about the good things to come.“
Cat Stevens
As the song unfolds, he continues with the theme of gratification by also indicating that he is ‘smiling’ and ‘hopeful’, but the thought process moves to a state of darkness. At the next station he offers to bring everyone together and live as one. He senses a universal pessimism on the edge, which he perceives as a resistance.
In the final verse Stevens appears in a state of melancholy. His initial hope turns to fear as he considers the state of a world divided by hate and mistrust. He cries out.
Now I’ve been crying lately, thinking about the world as it is
Why must we go on hating, why can’t we live in bliss”
Cat Stevens
That’s a good question.
Much like Cat Stevens in the early ‘70s, I recently found myself riding a train in a figurative sense. Unfortunately, it also turned into a train of negativity, so I made the decision to get off and hop on a new one. Major life decisions are never easy. I am not one to make radical adjustments. Any personality index makes it pretty clear that I am not a risk taker. Nevertheless, I made the change because I knew it was right for me, and everyone around me. Much like Cat Stevens, I was happy and I was smiling.
I notified my previous employer that I was leaving in early January and worked for the rest of the month. By month end, I was ‘retired’ at least for the moment. My retirement lasted exactly one month because I received a new opportunity, almost instantly, that was way too good to pass up.
On a national and global level, the month I was retired was likely the most turbulent month in my recollection. It began with the ‘Trucker’s Convoy’ which consisted of a bunch of half-wit morons draped in Canadian flags pretending to be patriots. Something about freedom, because that catch phrase sells to the uneducated imbeciles who don’t have the attention span to read more than a headline. These fools managed to take over our nation’s capital for three weeks while Ottawa police stood idly by. I suppose they were paralyzed by the fact many of the protesters were aligned with their misguided thinking.
Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said his force decided to avoid ticketing and towing vehicles “so as not to instigate confrontations”.
Try that the next time you are pulled over for a traffic violation.
Officer, I advise you not to give me a ticket because I will ‘instigate confrontation’.”
Random Thought
By the middle of the month the feckless Sloly had resigned. There is no truth to the rumour that he has opened a Bouncy Castle party rental outlet in Stittsville
Consider this quote from Jeffrey Monaghan, associate professor at Carleton University’s Institute for Criminology and Criminal Justice. He feels the police response to the convoy flipped the typical approach to protest policing on its head. Normally, police spend weeks ahead of major demonstrations warning about potential violence, aiming to delegitimise the movements ahead of time.
The typical relationship between police and protesters isn’t welcoming, it’s often warning. It’s often creating a public narrative that attempts to undermine political messages by tasking them as violent, especially when you’re talking about indigenous protestors and Black Lives Matter protests, but with the ‘convoy’ there was kind of a deliberate structure to the narrative that this was a legitimate protest – even though there’s all kinds of evidence that it was going to be a complete shit-show beforehand.”
Jeffrey Monaghan
Monaghan went on to say;
There are only two possible reasons for that stark difference: gross incompetence on the part of the police, or police did not want to treat the convoy movement the way they do others because they share sympathies, and they share similar cultural and political values. Either of those options are really not good for advocates of incremental change for policing. It means that there’s a lot of problems institutionally and structurally with policing.”
Jeffrey Monaghan
Mi’kmaq lawyer and chair in Indigenous governance at Ryerson University in Toronto, Pam Palmater suggested that the deeper concerning than the lack of immediate action to end the protest within two days, was the support members of various police forces and the Canadian military pledged.
This is a huge wake-up call … that white hate groups have become more empowered,”
Pam Palmater
Palmater added that the police response indicated that decisions over who is policed, and how, are not equitable.
It’s a huge double-standard, and double-standard doesn’t cut it; it’s direct and blatant racism.”
Pam Palmater
These observations speak to the difference in tactics used against the convoy protesters – who were predominantly white – versus those used against protesters of colour. Recent examples in this country are plentiful.
When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear that he was not going to speak to the urban terrorists, who based on the statements of their leaders weren’t even sure what country they lived in, he implored them to vacate, or drastic measures would be taken. Ontario Premier Doug Ford went snowmobiling, because the Ontario ‘folks’ taking part in the ‘Freedumb’ protest were clearly his supporters. Doug delivered his speeches with a mouth full of egg salad sandwiches which served to garble his messaging to the point he was rendered useless. Basically, this resides as a permanent state for ‘Boss Hogg’. Ottawa police managed to do little more than take selfies and carry gas cans for the unemployed truckers. The Mayor of Ottawa was perplexed. After three weeks, it became clear that the homeless truckers, who could not afford to pay their hotel bills and opted to bully homeless shelter operators for food, had nowhere to go. Prime Minister Trudeau invoked the ‘Emergency Measures Act’ much to the horror of radical right CONservative politicians and their gullible followers. The squatters were forced out within three days, once appropriate action was taken. Several trucks rolled out of the city with their flags waving proudly. They thought they had won. Some guy named Jonker from the Niagara area seemed to have a whole fleet of trucks on site. Apparently, this holy roller is a big deal in Lincoln, where he serves as a Town Councilor. His Facebook page reads like a Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker sermon on a Sunday morning in 1987. For some reason ol’ Jonker faced no consequences.
Man, this country would be in a bad place if people like Doug Fraud, Tamara Lich, Candice Bergen and that twirp Pierre Pollievre ever took over. Lunatics. Republican- style numbskulls. I am not kidding. It turns out this caravan of fools was funded by the American right Q-Anon conspiracy theorists led by the current king of cuckoos Tucker ‘Slack Jaw’ Carlson. Preying on the fears and insecurities of people in order to grab power. It is such a tired playbook.
Now we prepare for a Provincial election. ‘God’ help us all. Maybe Jonker has a prayer?
As the party was ending at the ‘Ram Ranch’, Russian President Vladimir Putin was beginning his assault on a defiant Ukraine. It’s almost like the distractions created while tail gaiters in Ottawa searched for freedom they had never lost, was set up so we would not focus on a very real problem. By February 24, Putin had announced that he was initiating a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. It was all sold to his woefully misinformed citizens as a ‘demilitization and denazification’. As a result, according to the evil Putin, any bloodshed would be the fault of the people of Ukraine, who would need to cooperate in full, or face the wrath of his army, navy and air force.
Well, the people of Ukraine have stood tall. Under the leadership of Volodymyr Zelensky and the resistance of his army and citizens the surprisingly disorganized Russian forces have faced losses that have been estimated at 15,000 troops. Some suggest that this kind of losses are not sustainable, while others share deep concerns that Putin may escalate the war in order to expedite his ultimate goal. He wants to take over Ukraine for its riches in natural resources, specifically uranium. If you read between the lines, you will note that Putin has no intention of stopping at the Ukraine border. Recent history will demonstrate this fact.
Russia has been buoyed by victories in Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine in 2014 and Syria. This advancement met with little in the way of international response. Financial sanctions have been instituted to some effect but these measures only impact a fraction of the country’s top end wealth. It mostly effects the citizens. Some have taken to the streets in protest, only to be swiftly silenced. The vast majority choose to be compliant. They buy into the propaganda that is actually being spewed by…
…the likes of Tucker Carlson and his foolish cronies at FOX News. You can’t make this stuff up.
The mental gymnastics required to understand how the American right could support Putin is a feat of contortion that rival Olympic proportions. Yet, millions of uneducated, right leaning idiots blindly accept the ridiculous partisan rhetoric.
The world is watching, only hoping that it does not escalate into World War III. Some experts believe we are already there.
Meanwhile
Out on the edge of darkness, there rides a peace train. Oh, peace train take this country, come take me home again”
Cat Stevens
What I am trying to say is, I spent my brief retirement going for long walks and reflecting on the state of virtually everything and not liking much of what I saw. Regrettably, people I know (or thought I knew) seem to be fine with the tactics shared above. To me, it remains unfathomable. If you are in a fight, take a look at who you stand with from a moral standpoint. If you are sharing space with liars, cheaters, con artists, manipulative career politicians who have only their own self-interest at heart, accused rapists, murderers, and open Islamophopbes, homophobes and obvious racists, you are on the wrong side. Shockingly, it seems to me that for many it takes years of convincing to realize they are being duped.
But we move on.
When Cat Stevens wrote ‘Peace Train’ he was able to employ a musical style that was calling to him while offering a message of hope.
Musically, I was revisiting a very Greek-sounding riff – the kind of thing you’d hear on a Greek island. The words were attached to that time, my peace anthem. It ended every show that I did and was quite a show stopper. It was a very important song for me because it stated one of the big goals of my life which was heading straight for that peace.”
Cat Stevens
Through the years the ‘Peace Train’ stopped at a few stations that were surrounded by troubled waters.
As far back as 1972, people were a little apprehensive about the message. To some, the song was a cheap imitation of John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’ or ‘Imagine’. Ted Tocks Covers often quotes critic, Robert Christgau. Here are his thoughts on ‘Peace Train’.
I don’t mind when Johnny Nash sings a charming ditty about how things are getting better, but when Stevens informs the world that we’re all on a peace train, I get annoyed. We’re not, and if Stevens ever stops shaking his head long enough to see clearly for a second, he might realize it.”
Robert Christgau
Obviously, Christgau is talking about ‘I Can See Clearly Now’. Ted Tocks would suggest that there is plenty of room for both songs.
Things definitely got worse a little further down the tracks. Cat Stevens converted to Islam in 1977 and legally changed his name to Yusuf Islam in 1979. This occurred right around the time that the Ayatollah Khomeini took 52 American embassy personnel and citizens hostage so anti – Islam sentiment was rampant. When speaking of this time in his life Yusuf Islam stated that he was simply following a preordained path.
I had found the spiritual home I’d been seeking for most of my life. And if you listen to my music and lyrics, like “Peace Train” and “On the Road To Find Out”, it clearly shows my yearning for direction and the spiritual path I was travelling.”
Yusuf Islam
Now is the time to introduce the first cover song because it feeds perfectly into the next chapter of the story.
In 1987, 10,000 Maniacs released a fantastic cover of ‘Peace Train’ which they had recorded for the album ‘In My Tribe’.
The initial pressings of the album/CD contained ‘Peace Train’ but when Islam made statements supporting the Ayatollah’s fatwa against writer Salman Rushdie for questioning the Islamic faith in the book ‘The Satanic Verses’, 10,000 Maniacs pulled the song from future editions of the recording. Muslims felt that the book was blasphemous and it mocked their faith. The condemnation led to several failed assassination attempts on Rushdie who was placed under police protection in his native U.K. Yusuf Islam, when questioned about the outrageous bounty on the writer, offered his support, stating that he deserved to die and he would act as executioner if he was ordered by a judge.
Ironically, by this time in his life, Islam had requested his music company to stop publishing his albums so the backlash in sales, and record burnings, or steamrolling in one case, was met with a shrug by the artist.
But time moves on and the train kept on rolling. Here is Richie Havens in 1989, completely unphased by the controversy created by the songwriter.
I love this one. Check out Dolly Parton with Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1996 from her album ‘Treasures’. Dolly has made her own headlines recently when she opted to not accept the nomination to potentially be voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The institution responded by stating they would not honour her request. In return Dolly Parton has vowed to record a rock and roll album. This would serve to justify her potential presence in the facility that celebrates the genre known as Rock and Roll but manages to stretch the criteria like a slinky going down a spiral staircase in a Beverly Hills mansion.
Things get better.
In 2003, Yusuf Islam re-recorded ‘Peace Train’ on an album for ‘War Child Records’ called ‘Hope’, that raises funds for children in countries ravaged by war. Clearly, his heart is in the right place.
Here is his accompanying quote that not only speaks to where things were 20 years ago, but sadly it tells the story that still exists presently.
As a member of humanity and as a Muslim, this is my contribution to the call for a peaceful solution to the dangerous path some world leaders today seem to be taking.”
Yusuf Islam
Take some time and enjoy this version of ‘Peace Train’ by the engaging Canadian singer Jann Arden from 2006. It appears on her album ‘Uncover Me’.
Here is yet another controversy related to ‘Peace Train’. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert created a skit that fell a little flat. This is from 2010 as part of an event in Washington D.C. called ‘Rally for Sanity/or Fear’ which had positive intentions but people have long memories and Yusuf Islam’s presence reminded some of the Salman Rushdie incident.
Jon Stewart regretted the attempt at humour by stating:
Death for free speech is a deal-breaker.”
Jon Stewart
As we move back and forth with this undeniably great song, check out two versions in one video. You get the classic original followed by a snippet of his vision of the song adapted to a blues style.
When you listen to the blues version and you will never hear this song the same way again.
A quick jump back to the cover versions and a performance by Palestinian actress Leem Lubany, who appeared in the movie ‘Rock the Casbah’ with Bill Murray who plays a down and out concert promoter who takes a performer to Afghanistan to play for the troops. His star attraction backs out and he is left in the lurch until he befriends a local singer who steals the show.
And finally, check out this 2021 edition of Music for Change.
The beauty of this version is its ability to bring 25 musicians together, representing 12 countries. Yusuf Islam plays the piano from a stunning setting in Istanbul, and is joined by legendary blues artist Keb’Mo, Grammy nominated, Senegelese artist Baba Maal, Silkroad’s Rhiannon Giddens and Pat Simmons of The Doobie Brothers among many others. Perhaps the most telling element of this version is the harmonium played by Tushar Lall of Delhi, India and Joshua Amjad of Karachi, Pakistan playing the Kartaal. As we all know India and Pakistan are two nations that are constantly at odds and threatening conflict. This was all done to symbolize the ‘International Day of Peace’ or ‘World Peace Day’.
Everyone should jump on the peace train.
Someday it’s going to come.
Ted Tocks Covers 