Additionally, there are backing vocals provided by Stevens' guitarist and friend Alun Davies beginning mid-song, singing an unusual chorus of simple refrains.

[1] Cat Stevens originally wrote "Father and Son" as part of a proposed musical project starring Nigel Hawthorne, called Revolussia, that was set during the Russian Revolution, and could also have become a film; the song was about a boy who wanted to join the revolution against the wishes of his conservative farmer father.

He was close to death at the time of his admittance to the King Edward VII Hospital in Midhurst, West Sussex.

[2] After a year-long period of convalescence in the hospital and a collapsed lung, the project was shelved, but "Father and Son" remained, now in a broader context that reflected not just the societal conflict of Stevens' time, but also captured the impulses of older and younger generations in general.

"[2] Speaking to Rolling Stone, Stevens has said he is aware that "Father and Son" and several other songs mean a great deal to a large number of fans.

The performance was presented in a video with two close camera shots of his wife and daughter, holding his infant grandchild.

The American rock band the Flaming Lips released a song titled "Fight Test" on their 2002 album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.

[12] Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne claims that he was unaware of the songs' similarities until producer Dave Fridmann pointed them out.

In an interview with The Guardian, frontman Wayne Coyne stated:[13] I want to go on record for the first time and say that I really apologise for the whole thing.

In the 1970s, Black folk singer, Richie Havens recorded an extended cover and pluralized the song title, as "Fathers & Sons" on his 1971 album The Great Blind Degree.

The mid-1990s and early 2000s saw a revitalization of the song with Boyzone's and Ronan Keating's disparate pop version introducing Cat Stevens to a new generation of listeners.

After four years of recording and releasing four albums centered around Great American pop standards, Rod Stewart directed his focus to covering contemporary pop rock songs, including this Cat Stevens song, for his 2006 Still the Same... Great Rock Classics of Our Time album.

Similar to Cash and Adams version, the two singers musically explore the song as a generational endearing conversation between the two of them.

"[19] In a separate review, Smash Hits editor Gill Whyte gave the single one out of five, writing, "This is a slowly, with lots of twinkly piano, crescendos and ooh-ah harmonious bits.

The song features guest vocals from Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) in the form of a virtual duet.