[WATCH] Yusuf Islam releases emotional video

Yusuf Islam was so overwhelmed by the plight of child refugees during a recent trip to Turkey that he penned an emotional song in their honor, “He Was Alone”. The singer, formerly known as Cat Stevens, appears in the video for the spare, emotional ballad playing the haunting electric organ accompaniment amid scenes of a child fending for himself after leaving his family behind.

“He was alone, when he was 12/ Only his thoughts, which he kept to himself/ He didn't have a place to play/ A friend to call, or a word to say,” Islam sings in the track that mixes the fear and desperation of child refugees with hopeful dreams of rainbows, white horses and a return home.

“While the world faces incomprehensible numbers and statistics created by the refugee crisis the tragedy and story of a single soul gets missed,: Islam wrote in a statement accompanying the video inspired by his recent trip to a region in Southern Turkey on the Turkish/Syrian border.

“He Was Alone” is the first new music from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame singer since his 2014 album, “Tell 'Em I'm Gone”. 

Source: Billboard