Sting |
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Fri. September 19.2003 5:34 PM EDT |
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Sting: Keep the FaithThe new album reflects on 9/11 and his spiritual commitment while remembering to dance a bit. He talks protest songs, sex music, and Mary J. Blige. by Mike Kaufman & C. Bottomley |
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Sting (Publicity) |
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Sting has had a lot of great years, and 2001 should have been another high point. The swirling “Desert Rose” had become a huge hit thanks to a BMW advertisement. And the singer was about to wrap up another successful world tour by playing an intimate
That concert was scheduled for September 11, 2001, and although it took place (and was later commemorated as the live record All This Time), when the instruments were packed away, Sting had to face up to the consequences of that fateful day. A close friend of his family died in the World Trade Center. Suddenly something like pop music no longer seemed that important. The time preceding the release of the new Sacred Love was one of intense reflection, and its value is obvious: Sting’s seventh studio album is one of his best in years. Although veiled in metaphor, “This War” uses squalling guitars to invoke Jimi Hendrix’s Vietnam. The track also taunts an un-named profiteer with the lines “you may win this coming battle/ But could you tolerate the peace?” It’s an album about secular salvation set to a funky world beat. The music is tickled by sitars, flamenco guitars, and jazzy piano vamps, and it seldom lacks for action. On “Never Coming Home” and “Send Your Love,” the singer’s band sets up a series of lively grooves. Shakespeare, Bach and Mary J. Blige are also a part of Sting’s thorough investigation into love, a subject that the brooding “Inside” deems “a violation, a mutilation, capitulation.” And it doesn't stop there. This album is a journey through love in all its variations. By the exultant closer, Sting has decided to place his faith in “sacred love,” or something close to it. The WTC tragedy has given the 51-year-old’s muse a kick in the pants, and he seems the better for it. Even his hair is looking good these days. He sat down with VH1 to discuss how he turned to love as the answer, working with Mary J., the relationship between music and sex, and why he still likes his toast done on one side. VH1: How did 9-11 shape the writing of this album? Sting: The last show of the tour was September 11. We all spent the next day of thinking about the world and our place in it. I was no different. I was alone in my house, trying to figure out what function I would serve as a songwriter in this new world that landed on our doorsteps. I didn’t quite know. I felt angry and afraid and confused. Trudi and I lost a friend in one of the towers - so there was an added tragedy there. [Watch Clip] VH1: What was the first song that got things going? S: I ended up with “Inside.” It’s a love song from the point of view of violence. It describes love as a tidal wave, as something as devastating as a bomb or warfare. I think we needed to redefine what love is in this new world. VH1: Why? S: My only answer to the world’s problems is the old artist’s solution - love. Love is the only thing that’s going to work, because most of the world’s problems are from lack of love. The Osama bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins of the world can’t have had terribly happy childhoods. There’s something clearly wrong in the way they were brought up. The world needs more love. It’s as simple, naïve and idealistic as that. [Watch Clip] VH1: In “Send Your Love” there’s a line about worlds colliding. Are you optimistic about the planet? S: I think it’s important to have a certain level of optimism, otherwise you give up the ghost and say, “Well, it’s hopeless.” I think the world is in for some radical changes - environmentally, socially, and politically. We have to assume that we can survive them and learn from them. VH1: Are there a lot of touchstones to that mood on the album? S: I like to think so. When I wrote “Send Your Love,” my producer Kipper was sitting around waiting for me to come up with a song, and I said, “Kip, I’ve either written the naffest song I ever written or a big hit. Or maybe both, I don’t know!” But the idea of sending your love to the future is to have a stake in the future. We want a world that’s safe and happy for not only our children, but our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We should not assume that we’re the last generation. That would be a terrible tragedy. [Watch Clip] VH1: What’s the idea behind the video? S: The video was directed by Sanna Hamri, a fantastic lady from Algeria. She’s directed a lot of hip-hop videos in the past. Her idea was to have this little boy in the video who would go around and hug people and see what effect that had on people. It’s a very simple idea and I like it very much. VH1: Any videos from the past that make you cringe? S: No, not really, I don’t cringe at all. They were all fun to make. When I see things like “All for One,” with Rod Stewart and Bryan Adams tarting around and poncing it up, it’s hilarious. No, I’m not embarrassed! What, is VH1 going to show my most embarrassing video? [Laughs.] I know your game! VH1: Was your duet with Mary J. Blige at the My VH1 Music Awards the first time you worked with her? S: Yeah, it was. We sang “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.” I was blown away by Mary. She’s this incredible powerhouse - an amazing voice and an amazing raw emotion. To sing with her is a big challenge! It’s like you’re playing tennis with one of the Williams sisters. But at the same time she’s got this wonderful vulnerability about her. There’s this contrast in personalities that’s very compelling. [Watch Clip] VH1: How did “Whenever I Say Your Name,” your duet with her, come about? S: After we sang together, I swore I would try and write a song for us both to sing. It took me a couple of years to come up with this concept. Mary’s singing style comes from the gospel tradition. So I wrote this song based on a bit of Bach and gospel, and “Whenever I Say Your Name” is hopefully gonna be a single down the line. VH1: Mary J Blige says she puts on your music when it's time to do the wild thing. S: [facetiously] I wonder what she means by that? VH1: Do you think pop music can be a sexual stimulant? S: Oh, absolutely! If I think of hits from the ‘60s, I can tell you exactly where I was and who I was with! It’s an aphrodisiac, of course it is. It’s about love. If people want to use my music for that purpose, I’m more than happy to keep providing it, the ‘wild thing’ that is. VH1: “This War” contains some obvious references to George Bush. S: Really? I thought it was about an old girlfriend of mine, but never mind! VH1: Are you worried about how it might be received because of that slant? S: I don’t think it’s about George Bush at all. I don’t find him that interesting, to be honest with you. There is some kind of prescience at work in the song in that we find ourselves in a quagmire in Iraq. It’s almost another Vietnam. If the president was honest, he would declare it a disaster area. We have to come clean and say we’ve really made a mistake here. There’s something terribly wrong. So I’m not ashamed to be saying we need to sort this problem out properly. But we have to admit our mistakes. [Watch Clip] VH1: Is music still an important way of getting messages across? S: I think so. All music doesn’t have to be political or socially concerned, it can be fun. It can be about dancing or whatever. But occasionally the need will come along for somebody to write a song that has relevance in the political arena, if you like. I don’t know how effective they are. I don’t know what they do. But if I’m asked my opinion, I’m very determined to give it. VH1: Is there a song you can name - not necessarily yours - that’s got its message across? S: I don’t really know. I’m not the judge of that. I’ve tried! But it’s important when you write a song not to just be giving political invective. You need to veil it in a way that’s artistic and it can be a good song without any political meaning. It depends how you want to delve. You’ve interpreted the song one way; I’m telling you it’s not necessarily the way to interpret it. But I’m not going to say if it’s wrong or right. VH1: Some songs make you think. Edwin Starr’s “War” was written for a certain time, but it still stands now. S: Well, I don’t think war has ever been particularly right. Young men dying for political reasons doesn’t strike me as something that you’d want to endorse. I’d hate for my children to be killed in a war, and I can’t imagine how the parents of American and British servicemen feel right at this moment, who were sent to get rid of weapons of mass destruction which seem not to have existed. I’d be angry. VH1: How do you make a protest song that’s built to last? S: [laughs.] It’s not my intention to build songs that are made to last. I just write songs and if they last, great. And if they don’t, write another one. VH1: There’s a lot of religious imagery on this album. Are you looking to a higher force now that you’re getting older? S: I think I’ve always been interested in the questions “Why are we here?” I don’t know the answer. As an artist, that’s the most interesting question you could ask. So your work tends to steer towards that. Most of my contemporaries are doing the same thing, so it’s not unusual. VH1: Which lyrical phrase are you most pleased with: “Put on the red light,” “I like my toast done on one side,” or “Nothing comes from violence, and nothing ever could.” S: The one about the toast, I think. It’s never been said before! VH1: Is the reality of being a rock star anything like the dreams you had as a kid? S: It’s really hard to say. I couldn’t possibly have imagined my life now, really, but I did have a fantasy about making a living playing solely music. I wasn’t sure how to do it, or how you ended up doing that, and I’m very fortunate that I managed it - largely by accident - but I couldn’t have predicted this life at all. VH1: It’s been a good journey - and an eclectic one. S: Well, you know, I was taught by the Beatles, who really gave us permission to see music as being one thing. They took from every source available - classical music, Indian, raga, the blues, rock ‘n’ roll … they just made it all happen. So you’re allowed to do this! |
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