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: Stings seventh studio album is one of his best in years. Although veiled in metaphor, This War uses squalling guitars to invoke Jimi Hendrixs Vietnam. The track also taunts an un-named profiteer with the lines you may win this coming battle/ But could you tolerate the peace? Its 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 singers band sets up a series of lively grooves. Shakespeare, Bach and Mary J. Blige are also a part of Stings 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-olds 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 didnt 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. Its 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 worlds problems is the old artists solution - love. Love is the only thing thats going to work, because most of the worlds problems are from lack of love. The Osama bin Ladens and Saddam Husseins of the world cant have had terribly happy childhoods. Theres something clearly wrong in the way they were brought up. The world needs more love. Its as simple, naïve and idealistic as that. [Watch Clip] VH1: In Send Your Love theres a line about worlds colliding. Are you optimistic about the planet? S: I think its important to have a certain level of optimism, otherwise you give up the ghost and say, Well, its 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, Ive either written the naffest song I ever written or a big hit. Or maybe both, I dont know! But the idea of sending your love to the future is to have a stake in the future. We want a world thats safe and happy for not only our children, but our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We should not assume that were the last generation. That would be a terrible tragedy. [Watch Clip] VH1: Whats the idea behind the video? S: The video was directed by Sanna Hamri, a fantastic lady from Algeria. Shes 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. Its 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 dont 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, its hilarious. No, Im 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. Shes this incredible powerhouse - an amazing voice and an amazing raw emotion. To sing with her is a big challenge! Its like youre playing tennis with one of the Williams sisters. But at the same time shes got this wonderful vulnerability about her. Theres this contrast in personalities thats 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. Marys 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! Its an aphrodisiac, of course it is. Its about love. If people want to use my music for that purpose, Im 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 dont think its about George Bush at all. I dont 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. Its almost another Vietnam. If the president was honest, he would declare it a disaster area. We have to come clean and say weve really made a mistake here. Theres something terribly wrong. So Im 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 doesnt 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 dont know how effective they are. I dont know what they do. But if Im asked my opinion, Im very determined to give it. VH1: Is there a song you can name - not necessarily yours - thats got its message across? S: I dont really know. Im not the judge of that. Ive tried! But its important when you write a song not to just be giving political invective. You need to veil it in a way thats artistic and it can be a good song without any political meaning. It depends how you want to delve. Youve interpreted the song one way; Im telling you its not necessarily the way to interpret it. But Im not going to say if its wrong or right. VH1: Some songs make you think. Edwin Starrs War was written for a certain time, but it still stands now. S: Well, I dont think war has ever been particularly right. Young men dying for political reasons doesnt strike me as something that youd want to endorse. Id hate for my children to be killed in a war, and I cant 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. Id be angry. VH1: How do you make a protest song thats built to last? S: [laughs.] Its not my intention to build songs that are made to last. I just write songs and if they last, great. And if they dont, write another one. VH1: Theres a lot of religious imagery on this album. Are you looking to a higher force now that youre getting older? S: I think Ive always been interested in the questions Why are we here? I dont know the answer. As an artist, thats 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 its 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. Its never been said before! VH1: Is the reality of being a rock star anything like the dreams you had as a kid? S: Its really hard to say. I couldnt possibly have imagined my life now, really, but I did have a fantasy about making a living playing solely music. I wasnt sure how to do it, or how you ended up doing that, and Im very fortunate that I managed it - largely by accident - but I couldnt have predicted this life at all. VH1: Its 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 youre allowed to do this! |
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