Songfacts®:

• The music of Cat Stevens (now known as Yusuf Islam) often explores themes of spirituality, religion, and the search for meaning.
  
  In his early songs, Stevens often wrote about the disillusionment of youth and the search for something more than what society had to offer. "Father And Son," for example, touches on generational differences and the search for purpose.
  
  Later, his music became more spiritual. Songs like "Peace Train" celebrate the power of love and compassion, while tracks like "The Wind" are about the search for spiritual enlightenment.
  
  In more recent years, Stevens's music has taken on a more contemplative tone.
  
  This hard rocker harks back to the time when Stevens had barely begun his search for answers to life's big questions. He told Mojo magazine it "refers back to a time when it seemed to me that the universe was the series of accidental possibilities that could force you off the planet into a realm that really frightened me."
• Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977 and adopted the name Yusuf Islam the following year. However, he still sometimes writes songs that focus on periods of his life before he found faith.
  
  "'Pagan Run' focuses on the really messed up time in my life when I had no idea where I was going Yusuf told NME: "Happiness was so elusive for me, and I'd become superstitious. Some people only have superstition, not faith, and that's all I had. When Stevie Wonder came out with 'Superstition,' I thought: 'Wow, he's hit it on the head!' People say they don't have faith, but they do. There's always something where you think: 'If I do this, it'll save me from getting into trouble'."
• The out-and-out rocker explodes out of the speakers and is quite a shock to the system. "It's a refreshing and unlikely track to find on a Cat Stevens record," Yusuf told The Sun. "I had a riff which wouldn't escape from me and I think we cracked it. Electric guitars are not what people know me for but I've always been an admirer."
• Cat Stevens/Yusuf recorded "Pagan Run" for his 17th studio album, King Of A Land. Former Yardbirds bassist Paul Samwell-Smith produced the record. Samwell-Smith produced Stevens' classic early 1970s albums Tea for the Tillerman, Teaser and the Firecat and Catch Bull at Four before returning to helm his 2017 set The Laughing Apple.