Say something interesting about sting/police

An observation my guitar teacher has made is that he really figured out just the right chords to use with a flanger/delay, creating pretty cool overtones and the like that fill up space in interesting ways.

okay what the fuck does that "deadly now for 12,000 years/is Carbon-14" line in We Work the Black Seam mean? does Sting just not understand some scientific thing?

yeah i think so

carbon-14 is a radioactive form of carbon that has a half-life of ~5700 years, but it occurs naturally in very low amounts that isn't harmful to humans, and half-life doesn't mean 'it lasts the length of two half-lives'. nuclear weapons testing in the 50s increased the levels of it in the atmosphere but still not to anything resembling dangerous levels, and is produced by nuclear power plants too. think it's just a not very good attempt to link nuclear power with the coal miners' strike?

if "Lazarus Heart" was an 80s Peter Gabriel song people would've gone gaga for it. that little jazz break is pretty dumb though and obviously something Peter Gabriel would not have done

Every day another miracle!

On the evidence of a photo I saw in the Telegraph, Sting isn’t actually very good at all at yoga - despite all those private lessons.

I suspect it’s a bit like Elvis’s karate skills.

think I've watched this 20 times straight

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGi7bwu8SHM

yep, that's a classic!

This reminds me: you know how music documentaries typically leave you feeling either better about the artist, neutral / the same about the artist, or worse about the artist? I always liked The Police, but man, the documentary really bummed me out. All three of them, for various reasons, seem like people you really wouldn't want to know.

Remember this exchange from that interview with Revolver?

Copeland: Andy, since we're here, I'm going to back you up on this. You should stand up right now and say, 'I Andy want all the Puff Daddy money. Because that's not Sting's song he's using, that's my guitar riff.' Okay over to you Andy, Go for it...

Summers: (meekly) Ok, I want all of the Puff Daddy Money.

Copeland: There you go, you feel better now don't you?

Sting: Okay Andy here's all the money. [pours some change on the table] Unfortunately, I've spent the rest of it.

Summers: I'll tell you what, Stewart, I'll take your share, I know Stings' not going to let me have his.

Copeland: So Sting's making out like a bankrobber here, while Andy and I have gone unrewarded and unloved for our efforts and contributions.

Sting: Life... is... f***ing... tough. Here I am in Tuscany.

Copeland: And don't we know it! You're in Tuscany in your palace with wine being poured down your throat and grapes being peeled for you. Sting can you buy me a castle in Italy too? With the proceeds from the longest running hit single in the history of radio? Just a little chateau somewhere?

Sting: We don't have f***ing chateaus in Italy, They're called palazzos. I'll lend you a room. (laughs)

I guess Andy really did carry a grudge over that.

Andy is 80. Probably a bit late to start hinting.

The Shend finds him a great imaginary foil. Continual point of humour on his FB feed.

He appears to be a lousy dancer if Quadrophenia is anything to go by. For a bassist does he have a sense of rhythm?

John Constantine came out of wanting to depict someone that looked like him in a couple of panels.

Sting: Life... is... f***ing... tough. Here I am in Tuscany.

looooool

I’d be interested to know how Summers could possibly have a claim after all this time has passed.

He should talk to Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum:

In 2006, the High Court found Fisher to be joint-author and co-owner of Procol Harum's song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by virtue of his contribution to the song in the form of his organ solo, despite waiting nearly 40 years since its release to make a claim. Fisher won the case on 20 December 2006 but was awarded 40% of the composers' share of the music copyright, rather than the 50% he was seeking and was not granted royalties prior to 2005.

Huh, wild… well there you go. Maybe he can get a piece of those sweet ongoing royalties.

Does anyone find it wild that the Police are all in their 70s or 80s? Boo hiss time

Well, they did do a song called "Born in the 50's," so they have been preparing you for this realization.

I'm in tears at that video

think I've watched this 20 times straight

Well, they did do a song called "Born in the 50's," so they have been preparing you for this realization.

Except Andy Summers was born in the (early) 40s!

Stink must have known he would be filmed during the performance. I guess the stink was too strong to deny

dunno if I want to admit this but "They Dance Alone" is really pretty and nearly brings me to tears in light of current world events. I guess it's easy to mock him for this stuff but sometimes he does hit it out of the park

"Fragile" on that album works too.

love “be still my beating heart”

still love 'lazarus heart' which sounds like a cross between wayne shorter and paul simon

yeah I posted about it upthread, its probably my favorite Sting deep cut. pretty crazy lyrics too.

I'd always considered Blue Turtles the only worthwhile Sting solo album but I'm rethinking that now. the second half is pretty rough though. I give "We'll Be Together" a pass knowing that Sting didn't want to write it but "Rock Steady" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life. and the last 3 songs are all really dull. manages to wring all the life out of "Little Wing" somehow. I guess "Straight To My Heart" is pretty fun?

"They Dance Alone" made me cry alone in the car recently!!!!

"Rock Steady" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life too!!!

what was the last great song that sting wrote?

Why Should I Cry for You

I guess it's easy to mock him for this stuff but sometimes he does hit it out of the park

otm

If I Ever Lose My Faith in You is a pretty undeniable pop song I think. but yeah idk if he's ever hit the emotional depth of Why Should I Cry For You since

The Soul Cages has several bangers. I'm impressed he got a single as resigned as "All This Time" into the top five.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI8khooPyJk

undeniable

where he mastered those Simon-influenced talk-singing cadences.

Xpost

I think both Nothing like the Sun and Soul Cages were both inspired by the death of his parents, the Soul Cages especially. that line on "All This Time" which goes "if I had my way/I'd take a boat to the river/and I'd bury the old man/I'd bury him at sea" always gets me.

NB: "Fragile" is one of Neil Tennant's favorite songs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI8khooPyJk

undeniable

― kurt schwitterz, Wednesday, February 7, 2024 5:11 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

genuinely one of the most insane music videos ever made, even today it still feels like an SNL sketch

the song itself may be good, I've heard a few people say it's a really great divorce song

One of my friends brought Dream of the Blue Turtles to spin one night a couple of years ago. Another of my friends said, "You broke up the Police for this? Fuck you" LOL

My intro to Toby Keith! He covered it (with Sting).

Blue Turtles is good but the live album was really something. believe it or not it was my first exposure to hip-hop.

I managed to see that tour when it came to Red Rocks, it was really good, but still.

Rock Steady" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard in my life too!!!

that was written under duress though. also "Rock Steady" attempts to be a cute Bible song and those are just never ever good

what was the last great song that sting wrote?

― blazin' squab (NickB), Wednesday, February 7, 2024 6:02 PM

Why Should I Cry for You

― Virginia Wolfman (Ye Mad Puffin), Wednesday, February 7, 2024 6:05 PM

Why should I cry for you?
Why would you want me to?
What would it mean to say,
I loved you in my fashion?

^^ he sings it quite well too

What's wrong with "We'll Be Together"? I liked it at the time, and heard it in Barnes & Noble this past weekend and still liked it.

"We'll Be Together" sounds cheap: one of the more crasser let-me-assemble-a-hit things. He didn't have a clue how to arrange the backup singers or how to use the Casio organ preset.

"Hauling on frozen ropes"

That's the line that gets me. The metaphor has to be that you wish to do something that is possible, but difficult.

A much more nuanced metaphor than trying to do something impossible, or trying to do something that us easy.

Why should I try?