Songs that make me cry, #7: “The Wind” by Cat Stevens

First, a prelude about why I’m continuing this silly little series on “songs that make me cry.”

The current presidential administration — especially Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump himself — continues to convey the worst possible messages about what it means to be a man. “Might makes right,” “never show weakness,” “never admit wrongdoing,” “women must be protected and sheltered so they can raise the children,” all that garbage. As one small form of rebuttal, I will keep insisting to my many fans that it’s OK for grown men to cry as a regular part of their lives.

All right — on to today’s song.

The Wind is a spare little gem from Yusuf Islam, known in his younger days as Cat Stevens. It’s rather meditative, and also rather cryptic:

I listen to the wind, to the wind of my soul
Where I’ll end up, well, I think only God really knows

I’ve sat upon the settin’ sun
But never, never, never, never
I never wanted water once
No, never, never, never

I listen to my words, but they fall far below
I let my music take me where my heart wants to go

I’ve swam upon the devil’s lake
But never, never, never, never
I’ll never make the same mistake
No, never, never, never

These words are amenable to many interpretations, at least one of which we can find in the opening minutes of the TV series Man on the Inside.

The show begins at the wedding reception of the protagonist, Charles Nieuwendyk. He toasts his bride, Victoria, recalling that from the moment he met her he had the thought that he would like to grow old with her. “What do you say, Vic?” he asks. The scene fades out, and we realize that a much older, recently widowed Charles has been dreaming. He wakes up alone in his bed, shuffles to the bathroom, shaves, pours some coffee, and starts his day. And all the while, Yusuf sings “The Wind.”

In this context, the song seems to ask, quietly but plaintively:

What now?

The love of my life is gone.

I have some time left.

I do not know God’s plan (if there is a God, if there is a plan).

What do I do now?