Sunday, October 22, 2006

Cat Stevens Sends Pope His Book

Uhm, I mean Yusuf Islam, the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens...there was a guy who could sing "Morning has Broken" exactly like him at morning prayer back in my college seminary days at St. Meinrad.

From the Monterey Herald:

Islam was also deported from Israel for giving thousands of dollars to Hamas. More recently, the composer of "Wild World" and "Moonshadow" has tried to build understanding among Christians, Jews and Muslims. He called the 9/11 terrorist attacks "an offense against the true spirit of Islam" and recently sent Pope Benedict his book "The Life of the Last Prophet" after the pontiff made remarks perceived to be divisive.

Islam's new lyrics don't mention Allah or the prophet Mohammed by name but in the song "Heaven," he sings, "If a storm should come and if you face a wave/That may be the chance for you to be saved/And if you make it through the trouble and the pain/That may be the time for you to know his name."