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A cover of the 1970 hit by Jimmy Cliff, which was in turn written by Cat Stevens, though Cliff's version was the first to receive a UK release, some months before the song showed up on Stevens' album Tea For The Tillerman. That same album also included another song that was a big hit for somebody else in the form of 'Father And Son', so it's possible to imagine this as a sort of female counterpart; that was presumably what led one YouTune commenter to say " i had my daughter listen shes only 13 and i dread the day she starts her own life". In truth (or at least on Wikipedia) Stevens wrote the song in response to his break-up with girlfriend Patti D'Arbanville, and perhaps if he wrote it in real pain it's easier to forgive the faintly threatening tone of some of the lyrics.
Of course, Maxi Priest is far too nice a guy to want to probe any of this psychological detail. In fact, for all that he drops in a "Please don't go" at the start of the track (after the self-consciously dramatic intro), he actually sounds quite cheery for most of the song, and this combines with the upbeat pop-reggae production to create a record that's actually quite fun if you don't think too much about it. It shows its age now, though, most unfortunately in that nobody seemed to want to release short singles in those days, and this version being faster than the previous takes means that they have to repeat the same parts a little too often to pad it out. But who am I to complain about that?
Also appearing on: Now 25 (with Shabba Ranx), 34 (with Shaggy)
Available on: The Best of Me
