Andy York

Farther And Son
(Boyzone cover version)

"Father and Son" is a popular song written and performed by English singer-songwriter, Yusuf Islam (then known as Cat Stevens) on his 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman. The song frames an exchange between a father not understanding a son's desire to break away and shape a new life, and the son who cannot really explain himself but knows that it is time for him to seek his own destiny. To echo this, Stevens sings in a deeper register for the father's lines, while using a higher, more emotive one for those of the son. Additionally, there are backing vocals provided by Stevens' guitarist and friend, Alun Davies, singing an unusual chorus of simple words, and sentences such as, "No", "Go and make this decision", beginning mid-song, so softly, they are only perceptible with a slight increase in volume towards the end of the song.

Stevens originally wrote the song as part of a proposed musical project with actor Nigel Hawthorne called 'Revolussia', that was set during the Russian Revolution. The song was about a boy who wanted to join the revolution against the wishes of his father. The musical project faded away with the onset of more than a year-long period of recuperation for Stevens after a sudden bout of tuberculosis and a collapsed lung, but "Father and Son" remained, now in a broader context that reflected not just the societal conflict of Stevens' time, but also captured the impulses of older and younger generations in general.

This Boyzone version reached number 2 in the chart in 1995. In 2004 a third version as a duet between Yusuf and Ronan Keating also reached number 2.