Wild World

"Wild World" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It first appeared on his fourth album, Tea for the Tillerman, recorded and released in 1970 and, continuing the change in Stevens' sound, after leaving Deram Records and signing with Island Records. Mona Bone Jakon was his first album released after a debilitating year of recovery from tuberculosis. As he convalesced, Stevens filled his time whilst still on bedrest, finding himself becoming a far more prolific songwriter, and after such a dramatic brush with death began to focus on his purpose in life after some unpleasant and stressful dealings with his previous record label. Favouring a newfound "stripped down" folk rock sound and bucking the heavily orchestrated constraints from his previous contract with Deram Records' Mike Hurst, he instead chose Paul Samwell-Smith (formerly of The Yardbirds) as his producer. With Samwell-Smith supportive of his judgement, Stevens once again began turning out hit records with a different meaning and depth, both lyrically and melodically, beginning with Mona Bone Jakon and continuing to Tea for the Tillerman, where "Wild World" became a popular hit song both in the United Kingdom and the United States. Both critics and Stevens himself agree that this album and the songs to come from it are some of Stevens' best work.