Last Love Song

Album: Back to Earth (1978)
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Songfacts®:

  • In December 1977 Stevens converted to Islam. Back to Earth was the only album he recorded using the name Cat Stevens after his conversion and the last album of contemporary Western music until An Other Cup, which he recorded under the name of Yusuf Islam nearly 30 years later. His conversion to the Muslim faith provoked a backlash from the arts establishment. Yusuf explained to The Sunday Times July 26, 2009 that this song was a reaction to the antagonism he faced: "I felt embittered by the treatment I'd received by the media when I chose a spiritual path. When I wrote the song 'Last Love Song,' it was about people turning their backs on you first, so you say, 'If you don't love me, maybe I don't love you.' There were these headlines like Cat on the Mat and always a bad photograph."

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