Ok so some of you may be wondering why I am so interested in a singer that came from my parents' generation. I've had a number of e-mails from people who share my love for Cat's music, most of them wondering how a 20 year old happened to discover it.

I grew up in a musical household. My mother played the guitar in her free time and my dad was a drummer in his high school years (and hasn't stopped drumming since!). My dad, however, had a unique connection to music and melodies. A good portion of my childhood was spent "rocking out", as my dad calls it, to music in the living room of our San Diego home. I remember music that was played for me when I was as young as five years old, e.g. Its a Beautiful Day, Crosby Stills and Nash, the Who, the Band, the Moody Blues, the Beatles, etc. I was even exposed to a lot of classical music such as Bach, Mozart, Sousa and Tchaikovsky. My dad tried to instill in me an appreciation for music, and to look for talent in the groups that I chose to listen to.

Of all these groups, the singer that had the most impact on my life was Cat Stevens. That could partially come from the fact that his music was basically the soundtrack of my childhood. However, I didn't start to really become interested in him until I was a teenager. It took me a while to realize the true meaning the music gave to my life. I listen to the lyrics and I hear words that are amazingly real. A lot of musicians try to write overly metaphorical lyrics that are hard to relate to, while every one of Cats songs means something real, and to every person they mean something entirely different. To me, his music will forever remind me of innocence. More importantly, it will always remind me of the way music can bond two people together. Although he may not realize it, my dad's simple act of sharing his music was one of the greatest gifts he has ever given me.

I will never stop loving the music of Cat Stevens, and I plan on sharing his music with my future children. No one should ever be deprived of good music in their lives.