Format 7" 45 RPM Length 2:52 | Genre Folk rock | |
B-side "Father and Son" (UK)
"I Think I See the Light" (US/Canada) Released September, 1970 (UK)
June, 1971 (United States) Recorded July 1970 at Morgan Studios, Willesden, London, England | ||
"Moonshadow" is a song from the album Teaser and the Firecat, released by Cat Stevens in 1971. Stevens, who is now known as Yusuf Islam, considers this his favourite of his old songs. It is one of the songs that convinced him to release a Greatest Hits record of his work as Cat Stevens. He felt its uplifting message could help people.
When Yusuf appeared on The Chris Isaak Hour in 2009, he said of this song: "I was on a holiday in Spain. I was a kid from the West End (of London) - bright lights, et cetera. I never got to see the moon on its own in the dark, there were always streetlamps. So there I was on the edge of the water on a beautiful night with the moon glowing, and suddenly I looked down and saw my shadow. I thought that was so cool, I'd never seen it before."
An animated short featuring the song was part of the Fantastic Animation Festival feature film released in 1977. The animation begins with a still frame of Teaser and his pet Firecat, pictured as they appear on the cover of the album bearing their names. The picture comes to life, and in the course of the animation, they find the fallen Moon, ride on it as it flies, and find a way to replace it in the sky. The beginning and ending story portions were written by Cat Stevens and narrated by Spike Milligan. The video also appears as a special feature on the Majikat Concert DVD.
In May 2012, Moonshadow, a new musical by Yusuf, featuring music from throughout his career, opened at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne, Australia. The show received mixed reviews and closed four weeks early.
The song appears as "Moon Shadow" on both the UK and US labels of the single release.