Yusuf, the artist also known as Cat Stevens, has released an animated video for his updated rendition of “Where Do the Children Play?” It’s the first single from his forthcoming remade version of his classic 1970 album Tea for the Tillerman.

The ecological-themed clip, which you can watch on YouTube, uses stop-motion animation to bring to life the two children and other characters featured on the Tea for the Tillerman cover.

The ominous video follows the children and their cat as they float on the roof of an old van through a garbage-filled sea, past the apparent ruins of civilization. They eventually make their way to a city, where plastic bottles rain down on them, and a large factory spews pollution into the air. The kids and their kitty, joined by other children, close off the smokestack, and the earth magically brightens and turns green again.

The clip ends in the forest depicted on the album covers of both Tea for the Tillerman and its new sequel, as the children, their cat and the tillerman are treated to a performance by Yusuf/Stevens and his band.

The video was directed Chris Hopewell, whose credits also include the Radiohead clips “Burn the Witch” and “There There.”

“The song has a strong environmental message, so we wanted to make a video that mirrored that,” Hopewell explains. “We decided to make the props and scenery from recycled materials wherever possible, to minimize the production impact on the environment.”

Hopewell adds that the plastic debris featured floating on the sea in the video was collected while cleaning up an actual beach in South Wales, U.K.

Tea for the Tillerman², featuring newly re-recorded versions of Tea for the Tillerman‘s 11 tracks, will be released on September 18.

By Matt Friedlander
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