Wild World

by Cat Stevens

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Guitar Pro Tab Summary

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Notice

GUITAR ONE Magazine: November 2000 "It was the aftershock of the '60s: Half the world seemed driven to the darkness of Black Sabbath's heavy metal and the relentless party-rock of Grand Funk Railroad; the other half sought refuge in the self-examing acoustic lullabies of Joni Mitchell and the world-weary countrified wisdom of James Taylor. It was the relentless rockers versus the singer-songwriters, and Cat Stevens (born Steven Demetre Georgiou in London on July 21, 1947) certainly led the charge on behalf of the sensitive acoustic balladeers. Tea For The Tillerman was released in February 1971, and its colorful collection of songs favored arrangements that limned Stevens' gravelly baritone and percussive strumming technique with surpirsing bursts of rock drumming, wisps of weirdly processed background vocals, occasional ensemble string orchestrations, and an array of tasteful acoustic instruments. "Wild World" was the epitome of the album--and arguably Stevens' career--and captured the conflicting emotions of a time when countless relations were torn asunder as people left familar environs to "start something new." THE STRUM AND VERSE FILLS "Wild World remains a wildly popular song because of its universal and timelss appeal, and it makes a great strummer. The chords (Am, D, G, C, F, Dm and E) are the fundamental "must-know" chords of acoustic guitar, and the tempo (74bpm) is slow and comfortable for most players. To put some extra spin on "Wild World," let's sort out its details. First and foremost, the strum: Arm yourself with a light-gauge pick and take a pass at Fig. 1. Begin with two eighth notes on the lowest root note (the note that shares the chord name), and then strum all the appropriate strings with the eighths-and-two-16ths pattern. Since the verse chords change once every two beats, this pattern will repeat for each chord, and Fig. 1 will cover two chords worth of strumming. The first break in this pattern occurs on the E chord in the fourth measure of the intro. Here, Cat begins with two beats from the pattern of the previous measures, but then adds a cool two-beat fill [Fig. 2]. It occurs again in the fourth measure of the verse. Those 16th notes may look pretty thorny, but they folllow the natural direction of the right-hand strumming rhythm (you are using a continuous down-up motion, aren't you?) and as long as you're holding down an E chord with your left hand, you won't go too far wrong. Add your fourth finger for the hammer-on into the fourth beat, then release it for the reaminder of the beat. Another fill occurs just before the chorus. The Verses' strumming pattern is again employed on the E chord, but Cat cleverly cuts it short and moves to a G chord, adding the descending pattern of Fig. 3. To pick up the energy from the verse, hit this figure with continuous downstrokes. If you begin each stroke from the fourth string (D), the desceding notes (F-E-D) will dominate the sound. One could harldy imagine a stronger transition from the dark A minor key center of the verse to the brighter C major key center of the chorus. THE CHORUS FILLS Two fills stand out in the songs' chorus. The first is a simple, descening C major scale [Fig. 4], which answers the songs' title. This can be picked a number of ways: strict down-up picking, contious downstrokes, or some form of economy picking employing the least motion from string to string. If single-string picking and scale patterns are new to you, take the time to think through the use of your right hand and stick with whatever picking pattern you choose to employ. The second fill is a bass line following the lyrics "Its' hard to get by just upon a smile" [Fig. 5]. Try fingering this phrase with the third finger of your fret hand while holding down the remainder of the C chord with your first and second fingers. Again, picking direction is an open issue, so experiment and stick with your choice. Cat Stevens formally became a Muslim and adopted the name Yusuf Islam on December 23, 1977. After releasing a final album in December 1978 (Back to Earth) , Yusuf Islam left the wild world of the music industry, entered into an arranged marriage that eventually produced five children, auctioned off his possessions, and founded a muslim school near London. Remarkably, with th release of The Very Best of Cat Stevens and remastered reissues of his Cat Stevens albums, Yusuf Islam undertook a promotional tour in the spring of 2000. The wild new millennium will certainly welcome him back."

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