Songfacts®:

• "How Good It Feels" is a spiritual and autobiographical reflection that traces the life journey of Yusuf (f.k.a Cat Stevens) through the lens of faith and divine connection. A centerpiece of his 17th album, King of a Land, the song traces a long arc from material success and personal turbulence toward the calm harbor of faith. It's a journey that echoes earlier signposts like "Father And Son," "Peace Train" and "Morning Has Broken," only now sung by someone who's lived every verse.
• King of a Land was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith, the former Yardbirds bassist who helped midwife Stevens' golden early-'70s run (Mona Bone Jakon, Tea for the Tillerman, Teaser and the Firecat, Catch Bull at Four) before reuniting with him on 2017's The Laughing Apple.
  
  "I brought everybody back because it was so comfortable and we knew each other so well," Yusuf told Uncut magazine. "We didn't have to explain anything, the nature of making music together was natural amongst us. So I liked to recreate that ambiance, and that was something very precious to me."
• The song's sweeping orchestration borrows from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, a melody Stevens first fell for on his sister's records and began writing around as far back as 1968. Inspired but intimidated by its classical roots, he left the piece unfinished for decades. "It has almost everything I ever wanted to say in a song," he told The Sun.
• Yusuf plays the nylon guitar, acoustic guitar, and synthesizer. The other musicians are:
  
  Eric Appapoulay: nylon guitar (Appapoulay is Yusuf's guitarist and has been a key collaborator since the mid-2000s)
  
  Bruce Lynch: Fender bass (Lynch first worked with Cat Stevens on 1974's Buddha and the Chocolate Box and toured extensively with him in the 1970s)
  
  Russ Kunkel: drums, cymbals (legendary session drummer known for work with Joni Mitchell, Carole King, James Taylor, and CSN&Y)
  
  Peter Vettese: keyboards (renowned keyboardist who has worked with Jethro Tull, Bee Gees, and Simple Minds)
  
  Hanna Roos: soprano voice (German mezzo-soprano/soprano with extensive classical training)
  
  Nick Ingman: orchestra arrangement (known for his work with Tony Banks, Phil Collins, and on numerous film scores)
• King of a Land took nearly a decade to assemble, recorded in stops that include Berlin's Hansa Studios, Brussels, Provence, and Yusuf's Dubai home studio, affectionately dubbed "Dubville." Yusuf described the album as a "mosaic"; "How Good It Feels" is one of its brightest tiles.
• Regarding the album's central message, Yusuf told Rolling Stone: "Peace is my starting point and my destination. Many of my songs describe the search for a spiritual state where we can find shelter from strife. Peace means everything in life, externally and internally."