Single:
Moonshadow entered the Australian singles chart* on 24 May 1971 and peaked at #18. It was released in Australia as a double-A-side single with Father and Son which is on the Tea for the Tillerman album.
Album:
Moonshadow is on Teaser and the Firecat which entered the Australian albums chart* on 15 November 1971. The album sat at #1 for 15 weeks.
Songwriter:
Cat Stevens
Producer:
Paul Samwell-Smith
Record label of Australian release:
Island
*Kent Music Report / Australian Chart Book. See About.
Cat Stevens performs Moonshadow live in 1971:
BONUS VIDEO BELOW – The Moonshadow animated short film from 1977
Wikipedia:
Stevens considers this his favourite of his old songs. When Yusuf appeared on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009, he said of this song:
“I was on a holiday in Spain. I was a kid from the West End [of London] – bright lights, et cetera. I never got to see the moon on its own in the dark, there were always streetlamps. So there I was on the edge of the water on a beautiful night with the moon glowing, and suddenly I looked down and saw my shadow. I thought that was so cool, I’d never seen it before.”
Read more: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonshadow_(song)
Songfacts:
Cat Stevens wrote this about finding hope in any situation. Be present and joyful. See life as it is, right now, and don’t compare it to others’ lives, or other times in your life. Every moment in life is rich and unique; whether we are aware of it or not, we are always leaping and hopping on a moonshadow – the inescapable present moment. If we are wrapped up in our whirlpools of worry and concern about what could be, or what has been, we are missing the richness of life as it is.
Read more: www.songfacts.com/facts/cat-stevens/moonshadow
Lyrics:
Oh, I’m being followed by a Moonshadow,
Moonshadow, Moonshadow
Leapin’ and hoppin’ on a Moonshadow,
Moonshadow, Moonshadow
Click for full lyrics
This song is also on our Spotify playlist Bang a Gong – the 70s
Find more songs to enjoy: Bang a Gong song finder
BONUS VIDEO – Moonshadow animated short film
Following the enormous success of his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat, Yusuf / Cat Stevens wrote and illustrated a beautiful children’s book of the same name based on the characters from the record’s cover art. The charming story in which a boy and his clumsy but loveable feline companion seek to return the fallen moon to the night sky was turned into an animated short film containing a musical interlude using the song Moonshadow.
The animation was directed by Charles Jenkins and featured narration by the legendary British comedian Spike Milligan and was one of 16 pieces that made up the Fantastic Animation Festival that ran in theatres in 1977.
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