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Fri 24 Jul 2026 9:18 AM, UK
There is no perfect song. No matter how masterfully written, masterfully arranged or flawlessly produced a track is, there will always be those who dispute its excellence. Fortunately, it is this subjectivity that excites music.
Since there’s no such thing as a perfect song universally accepted, we’re all free to offer our suggestions, and Emma Stone delivered a Yusuf and Cat Stevens classic.
Although she found success in front of the camera rather than in the studio, Stone’s career often veered into the musical field. From starring in a ridiculous comedy track with The Lonely Island to Pop Star: Never Stop, Never Stop for her Oscar-winning lead role in Damien Chazelle’s romantic musical. La La Landher penchant for acting has never been limited to acting.
There’s one song in particular that seems to have stuck with Stone for over a decade: “Where Do The Children Play” by Cat Stevens. Creating the opening track to Stevens’ iconic 1980 album. Tea for TillermanThe title question of the song examines the impact of airplanes and gasoline on our future.
“I know we’ve come a long way, we’re changing day by day,” Stephen sings over his signature and soothing folk-rock sounds, “but tell me, where do the kids play?” The song contains an underlying message of preserving the environment around us, while acknowledging progress and mourning the losses that come with it.
Photo: Far / IMDB
The song’s enduring power stems in part from the fact that its central issue goes far beyond environmental concerns. Stevens leaves enough emotional space for listeners to find their own meaning in the lyrics, whether they hear reflections on childhood, innocence, loss, or the pace of modern life. The track avoids easy answers and instead quietly invites thought, which helps explain why it continues to resonate across generations.
This openness also makes it the kind of music that people often return to during times of uncertainty. Its gentle arrangement never tries to overpower its message, instead creating an atmosphere of confidence that sits comfortably with its melancholy. At the same time, “Where do the children play?” becomes not so much a solution to life’s difficulties as it is providing a moment of peace within them.
It was this mixture of calm and melancholy that Stone fell in love with this track. She first learned about the song in the 1971 Hal Ashby film. Harold and Maude and immediately fell in love with the soundtrack. As she recalled during a conversation with British VogueStevens’ soothing song helped her through a particularly difficult time in her life.
“My mom had breast cancer when I was 19,” she explained, “and I was listening to a lot of Cat Stevens at the time, and that song for some reason was very helpful and effective and calming because it’s sad, but at the same time it’s just the perfect song. It was very important at that time in my life. I really loved that song.”
At once soothing and melancholy, a meditation on progress and destruction, “Where Do the Children Play?” is definitely a worthy contender for the perfect song with which Stone has developed a particularly personal connection.
Return to the track below.
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