STAR: My favorite song on Tea For the Tillerman is Longer Boats. It’s a curious song. Would you explain what it means by, "Longer boats are coming to win us—hold on to the shore, or they’ll be taking the key from the door...?"

CAT: One thing, Americans try to make too much of my songs. They’re just songs. I don’t know why I write them. But they try and find all kinds of hidden meanings in my songs. Longer Boats is actually about flying saucers. One night I was lying back in bed and I saw this flying saucer shoot across the sky and stop over me. And it sucked me up into it. When it put me down, I shot up in bed. I knew it wasn’t a dream, It didn’t feel like a dream, It was real, I know itwas real.

Cat Stevens was in reality writing about UFO’s, flying saucers, in this song. I must admit the words are clear (now that I’ve been enlightened that is). That same phrase now sounds like very large boat-like space ships are coming to take over ’’win’’ control. The line ’’Hold on to the shore, they’ll be taking the key from the door.’’ takes on the meaning of protecting ones self against little green men. Interesting, how far off I was back then. Now some of you are saying right now, ’’I knew that all along’’, well why didn’t you call me and let me in on the simple mystery?

Tea For The Tillerman is probably the most well-known of Cat Stevens' albums. Two other songs that spoke of UFO’s with a clear message were ’’It’s a Super (dupa) Life’’ (New Masters) and ’’Freezing Steel’’ (Catch Bull at Four ).

Well, I dreamed I saw the knights in armor coming,
saying' something about a queen.
There were peasants singing' and drummers drumming'
and the archer split the tree.
There's a fanfare blowing' to the sun
that was floating on the breeze.
Look at Mother Nature on the run in the nineteen seventies.
Look at Mother Nature on the run in the nineteen seventies.

I was lying' in a burned out basement
with the full moon in my eyes.
I was hoping' for replacement
when the sun burst through the sky.
There was a band playing' in my head
and I felt like getting high.
I was thinking' about what a friend had said I was hoping' it was a lie.
Thinking' about what a friend had said I was hoping' it was a lie.

Well, I dreamed I saw the silver spaceships flying'
in the yellow haze of the sun,
there were children crying' and colors flying'
all around the chosen ones
All in a dream, all in a dream the loading had begun.
Flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home in the sun.
Flying Mother Nature's silver seed to a new home.