Fields of POLL: The Best of Sting

^^^^^
truest thing ever spoken on ILX

oh c'mon -- they did it all for love.

i was kinda glad when he did the three amigos thing with bryan adams and rod stewart, because i felt like i'd been contractually released from ever paying attention to him again.

i'd ask what "thing" you're referring to, but i think i'm happier and more content not knowing about it.

happier, more productive,
comfortable,
not drinking too much,
* * * *
getting on better with your associate employee contemporaries ,
at ease,
* * * *
(no bad dreams)

somewhere post-Dream of the Blue Turtles (ie, high school) I realized what horrible music this guy makes and I just can't abide him. So much so that my wife has to listen to her Police box set when I'm not home.

Let's make it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall for one and all for loooooooooove

my wife has to listen to her Police box set when I'm not home

yeah, i have that box-set. i like a lot of the songs, but i can't bring myself to listen to it.

goin for "be still my beating heart"

Sue me, but I still like "Fortress Around Your Heart"

That the Police were better than solo Sting is a fact too obvious to restate but in this case it instructs us, reliably, to vote for the one song on here that sounds like a good Police single, "Fortress Around Your Heart."

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dr. seuss is a better lyricist than sting.

― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, March 14, 2010 9:54 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

There might not be a rock lyricist better than Dr. Seuss. For sure at most 5.

That the Police were better than solo Sting is a fact too obvious to restate but in this case it instructs us, reliably, to vote for the one song on here that sounds like a good Police single, "Fortress Around Your Heart."

i don't think FAYH sounds anything like the police, but i (reluctantly) admit it's a good song.

Fortress Around your Heart still would have been better with Andy Summers putting some of that creamy chorus guitar around it. He would have eaten that chord progression for breakfast.

agreed.

Ha! Is it the modern lot of wives, listening to the Police box set only when their husband is away? I qualify! It must be how he feels when he watches pornography when I'm not around, kind of dirty but also relieved.

sting is much more sorid than pornography.

sting is horrible.

Sting pornography would be the worst.

It probably would last a long time.

http://imgsrv.nightswithalicecooper.com/image/nwac/UserFiles/Image/sting.jpg

I would watch a Sting pornography if, in it, he had intercourse with younger guys who looked sort of like him, like Neil Patrick Harris and Christopher Masterson.

It probably would last a long time.

only if you include dinner and a movie in calculating the time.

lol. TS: Sting (professional bard) v. Sting (professional wrestler)

I'm abstaining, though I'd vote for "Desert Rose" (w/ Cheb Mami) if it was on here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyf4KDbnrP0

I still reckon his first three solo albums were indeed quite good. Even "Ten Summoner Tales" contained a couple of nice singles, but by then he was completely on his way into ZZZ-land.

Had to stop reading Daniel Levitin's The World in Six Songs after he went on at length about the genius of Russians and referred to "my friend Sting".

Really hate that Mr Kruschev/Mr Pinochet mister-thing that Sting does.

No Love Is The Seventh Wave, no credibility.

oh lord, "Russians" is the most embarrassing song in the world that isn't "They Dance Alone"

Love is a big fat river in flood

btw this is very very gross

You really should read the rest of those lyrics I linked. Feel the revulsion!

"love is stronger than justice" is pretty cool music-wise; all that shit about burritos, bandidos and "ethical stuff" needs to die, though

gah nevermind, just listened to it for the first time in like 10 years and it's totally unredeemable. need to wash my ears out w/some bizcuit now

Maybe because it's embarrassing, I voted for "Russians" -- a gorgeous (cribbed) melody, the clunkiest of lyrics, that new dad feeling along with all its attendant earnestness, all those "misters"... what's not to love?

cribbed from what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf5w-PP6UQo

ok now i'm less guilty about my secret fondness for 'russians'. see, i didn't even confess it till now. lostandfound otm iow.

How would history had differed if he'd used the Trololo melody.

How can I save my little boy from Oppenheimer's deadly trololololo?

I like my toast done on one side.

Eh? Is this considered an English affectation?

Yeah, like cooking the left half of a pizza.

Am eagerly waiting on Sting's "Disgusting Savages" song.

Yeah, like cooking the left half of a pizza.

No, we only cook the edge

But that's a Scottish thing, surely. The English do what I have described, then dunk it in tea.

In fields of barley.

Lute-fired pizzas.

no "Desert Rose", no credibility

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

"If I Evah Lose My Faith in You" is a catchy little number, but I'll go with "Fields of Gold".

I think he's written some great lines

to me the thing he's most guilty of is using a lot of dumb filler words and nonsense phrases which makes his lyrics come off like shitty childrens books. "so they danced for his pleasure/with a joy you could not measure". like what does that even mean? congrats on making the rhyme though

a denunciation of possessiveness that would be a lot more convincing issued by someone other than a millionaire

It’s about “possessiveness” in a relationship (not in a material sense), right? Not sure why a millionaire can’t express that sentiment…

xp LOL

One exception (at least for me): I know "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" got trashed in the Police thread, but lyrically it's kind of the perfect Police song for me. On some level, it's acknowledging his deficiencies as a lyricist and having a laugh on him.

Re. Ten Summoners Tales, I think the fact that it was a warm, unpretentious record (for Sting anyway) with two very big singles led a lot of people to overrate it at the time and overlook that a lot of the writing was pretty lightweight (tho I’d argue “It’s Probably Me” is a cut above a lot of the material here). Jazzers really loved the playing, particularly Vinnie Colaiuta’s. So the combo explains why Downbeat rated it so highly.

I hear ya, but you'd think there was a better consensus pick in the jazz world. Joshua Redman's debut came out the same year - maybe they didn't want to pile on the hype for someone who just got established as a big name star, but I think it would've held up as a much better mainstream pick.

(same month actually - just a few weeks later)