Revolussia by Cat Stevens

[Suzanne]

Does anyone have any further information about Revolussia, the shelved 1970s musical about Nicholas, Alexandra and the Russian Revolution that Cat Stevens wrote songs for - I am curious to know why it was never produced, when it appears that Cat Stevens wrote 12 songs for it during the 1970s and this was the same era when Nicholas and Alexandra, the film, was produced. (I am not sure exactly when the musical was being developed, Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) only discusses it briefly in the Majik of Majiks concert DVD interviews). In know that his hit song "Father and Son" from the Tea for the Tillerman album was originally written as a conversation between a conservative Russian farmer and his rebellious son, with the father trying to dissuade the son from the joining the revolution. The song "The Day they Make Me Tsar" from On The Road to Find Out, Box Set is from the perspective of the young Alexei. Just from the lyrics, I have a suspicion that "Hard-Headed Woman" was originally about Nicholas's attraction to Alexandra, but I don't have any other evidence to back that up. Does anyone know of any other Cat Stevens songs that were originally written for this musical?

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[Suzanne]

Here are the lyrics for the songs I mentioned:

Father and Son

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just relax, take it easy.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to know.
Find a girl, settle down,
If you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.

I was once like you are now, and I know that it's not easy,
To be calm when you've found something going on.
But take your time, think a lot,
Why, think of everything you've got.
For you will still be here tomorrow, but your dreams may not.

Son
How can I try to explain, when I do he turns away again.
It's always been the same, same old story.
From the moment I could talk I was ordered to listen.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.

Father
It's not time to make a change,
Just sit down, take it slowly.
You're still young, that's your fault,
There's so much you have to go through.
Find a girl, settle down,
if you want you can marry.
Look at me, I am old, but I'm happy.
(Son-- Away Away Away, I know I have to
Make this decision alone - no)
Son
All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside,
It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it.
If they were right, I'd agree, but it's them They know not me.
Now there's a way and I know that I have to go away.
I know I have to go.
(Father-- Stay Stay Stay, Why must you go and
make this decision alone?)

The Day they Make Me Tsar
One day the sun will come down from the sky
Winter will fly and I won't feel cold
Gardens will light up with bright dapple horses
Gingerbread horses, that never grow old
There's so much that I have to do
I hope it won't be hard and I hope it will be snowing
on the day they make me Tsar
I go just where I want to and I won't be lead around
I'd like to try today but then I'm much too small for the crown.
Animals will travel from distances far
lead by a star to beat in my door
All kinds of strangers will come with no dangers
white velvet angels will sleep on my floor
There's so much that I have to learn
I hope it won't be hard and I hope it will be snowing
on the day they make me Tsar
I go just where I want to and with both feet on the ground
I'd like to try today but then I'm much too small for the crown.


Hard Headed Woman

Im looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will take me for myself,
And if I find my hard headed woman,
I wont need nobody else, no, no, no.

Im looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will make me do my best,
And if I find my hard headed woman
I know the rest of my life will be blessed -- yes, yes, yes.

I know a lot of fancy dancers,
People who can glide you on a floor,
They move so smooth but have no answers.
When you ask whyd you come here for?
I dont know why?

I know many fine feathered friends
But their friendliness depends on how you do.
They know many sure fired ways
To find out the one who pays
And how you do.

Im looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will make me feel so good,
And if I find my hard headed woman,
I know my life will be as it should -- yes, yes, yes.

Im looking for a hard headed woman,
One who will make me do my best,
And if I find my hard headed woman...

[scarlett_riviera]

I loved the song Father and Son! I had no clue it was meant for a musical about Nicholas and Alexandra. I'll have to surf about it!
...

Okay I just googled it and there's not a lot of info about it. It would've been an interesting musical. This is all I came up with:

 The Day They Make Me Czar. Yusuf Islam: That's Alexi, the child of Nicholas, the last czar. It was never properly recorded. The script to the musical Revolussia was partly written by Nigel Hawthorne, who became a Sir! A musical allows you to develop different styles of music, to match the different characters and moods.

Father and Son. Yusuf Islam: It was one of the 12 songs or so I'd written for Revolussia. It came early on, where the son has decided to leave home and join the revolution. His father was a peasant farmer who didn't see life in any more than the one dimension he'd lived up to that point, and here was a son who saw a way forward and a new life waiting for him. Paul Samwell–Smith: It was Steve's idea to sing it as two people. It was always part of the song. My only contribution was to get a girl to come in and sing absolutely in unison behind him on those backing voices. She came in with her mum, who was chaperoning her.

“Hard Headed Woman”- This song is another one I like to call a roller coaster song because it starts off slow and somewhere in the middle the song turns more aggressive and at the end it comes back down. The Song was written after Stevens dated American actress Patty D’Arbanville. He felt he needed a much stronger woman who in turn would make him a stronger person. D’Arbanville inspired Stevens to write many songs including the next one…

“Father and Son”- This song is my personal favorite because I can relate to it somewhat. And I think a lot of people can. Stevens wrote this song for a musical he was doing at the time called “Revolussia” the project never finished and the musical never got done. The song is about a son who wants to join the Russian revolution but his father wants him to stay and settle down. I have also heard Cat Stevens on a San Francisco radio station say that the song could be about a son who has a new found faith that is different from his fathers and they dispute it with each other. What ever the reason may be the base line is a simple disagreement between a father and son that ends with separation. --> (from a board/ guitarzone.com)

[Alixz]

Cat Stevens originally wrote this song as part of a proposed musical project with actor Nigel Hawthorn 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 but "Father and Son" remained, now in a more general context that reflected not just the societal conflict of Stevens' time, but also captured the impulses of older and younger generations in general.


http://www.casttv.com/search/uploader:%22MindwalkerStudios%22/1

Yusuf told me it had taken him 40 years to complete the musical, and that he had been working on one - with, bizarrely, Yes, Prime Minister star Sir Nigel Hawthorne - just before he was discovered by Island Records in 1968. The musical was called Revolussia, was set during the Russian revolution, and contained one of Stevens's most famous songs, Father And Son.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1172812/Tunes-help-speak-carefully.html


 'revolussia'

June. Single: Where Are You/The View From

http://www.yusufislam.com/search/