I gots to have my Cat

I love Cat Stevens. My love is so deep, I thought it could survive anything. It survived Jube's mocking (I made him learn a song and was so proud of him he got upset--"you think this is hard? Gosh, I wish you would be so happy when I play really hard stuff"). It survived high school, where no one had heard of Cat and when I made a speech about him everyone was bored for 10 minutes. It even survived a really bad Mandy Moore movie in which they played "Wild World" by some girly band at the end. But yesterday, I thought my love was tarnished forever.

"La Taratata"--a kind of "Top of the Pops" but cooler--featured De Palmas last night. I wasn't really watching since I was reading a book on my bed, but I could enjoy the music without paying much attention. And then suddenly I heard the words "Cat Stevens." "Yes, that's right, De Palmas and Francis Cabrel will be singing a Cat Stevens song tonight!" (of course that was all in French). Wow was I excited! They're two pretty good singers and they are also good artists.

They sat down and played the intro to "My Lady D'Arbanville" on their guitars. And then Francis Cabrel started singing.

"My Lady d'Arrrrbanville, why do you sleep so steel? I'll wake you tomorrow, and you will be my feel, and you will be my feel."

Hmmm... I suppose that metaphorically "steel" works just as well as "still"... but "you will be my feel"? That makes the song dirrrrrrrrty! Luckily for me, De Palmas had obviously listened to the original version before and could reproduce Cat's English.

I must admit, at the beginning, I was nonplused. But now, "you will be my feel" has started to grow on me. It's pretty logical, actually--rhymes with "d'Arbanville" and makes the singer seem like a real weirdo. So, a big Merci, Francis Cabrel for teaching me ever new and exciting ways to enjoy Cat Stevens.*

*Also known as Yusuf Islam, whose next projected single is "A is for Allah."