There's only one thing greater than my fear- that is my love. My love will always conquer my fear- but it can't do it immediately. It needs the full force of my love to do it and it takes days for that to emerge out of its dark hiding places.
~John Middleton Murry~
In the space of a few hours on a September morning, humanity came face to face with fear.
In this new world, what is a musician to do? How is an artist to respond to such overwhelming change, a change that in some way reaches into the lives of every soul on the planet?
In the space of a few hours on a September evening, music proved to be the perfect vehicle to show that love is the one force stronger than fear.
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. Trudie and I lost a friend in one of the towers
~Sting~, 2003, VH1 interview, from www.vh1.com/artists/news/1479165/091903/sting.jhtml
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Sacred Love
Sting’s new album, Sacred Love is an exploration of love, and how it permeates and affects everything we do. Sting’s response to our new world is to explore it through the eyes of love, examining a litany of humanity’s achievements and follies, and ultimately, to extend the challenge to live a life of love that seeks to be a positive force in this world. Not since The Soul Cages has Sting been so focused on a single subject, and the intensity of this album will prove to be it’s hallmark. Sacred Love seems to be the songs of many voices in the world, each one a voice of humanity seeking a better way to a better future.
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Hell is the only place outside of heaven where we can be safe from the dangers of love
~C. S. Lewis~
The journey to Sacred Love begins Inside each of us – the voice of a heart trapped in itself, afraid to love, yet wanting desperately to be loved. The voice begins introspectively, set to guitar, strings and sitar, (somewhat reminiscent of The Soul CagesMad About You) The song builds in intensity in the second verse as the voice describes how love is abused and used, how easily love can hurt, teaching the heart to fear love while thirsting for any semblance of it. By the bridge of the song, this entrapped love is a violent explosion waiting to happen in the heart, while the storms of the world await the voice just outside, and the voice climbs a high tower to throw itself upon the winds. The music is the storm, strings howl, drums thunder, guitars slash, and the voice screams for love of any kind. There are no answers in this song; love as a healing force is not yet revealed.
Inside is one of Sting’s strongest tracks – ever.
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Love is the only rational act.
~Morrie Schwarz~
This ain't no time for doubting your power
This ain't no time for hiding your care
You're climbing down from an ivory tower
You've got a stake in the world we ought to share
Send your love into the future
Send your precious love into some distant time
And fix that wounded planet with the love of your healing
Send your love
Another voice calls to those trapped Inside, and to all of humanity, calling on each one to Send Your Love. There is a new world of music expressed in this song; a flamenco guitar solo introduces, then remains throughout the song (the intro is not heard in the radio edit), oriental wind instruments swirl through the hook, and the song launches into a techno-pop trance (with a dash of Steve Miller for the observant). The voice calls for rejection of religion as a means to Sacred Love, suggesting that the key to fixing the hurting planet is found in the expression of love from within – you cannot remain Inside.
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Love is the beauty of the soul
~St. Augustine~
A new voice is heard on this Sting album – Whenever I Say Your Name is a vocal duet with Mary J. Blige! Though Sting has had other vocalists appear in some of his earlier songs, this is the first time he has done a full duet on any of his studio releases, and wisely, Sting lets Mary have her space on this song. The song is derived from a melody by Bach, a choice that lends itself to the theme of the song – love is a religion in and of itself. Though the two voices are separated from each other, they fervently pray for the day that their love can be reunited. The music is an R&B/Gospel ballad, with some interesting chord changes and vocal acrobatics from Ms. Blige. Sting wrote the song with Mary J. Blige in mind after having performed with her recently, and the duet really works well. The reverent tones of the first two verses give way to one of Sting’s typical funky jazz jams to take the song out, and Mary riffs nicely along with the band.
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Other voices, other memories from Sting albums past are heard throughout Sacred Love - here are a few quick comments on some of these songs:
- a voice tired from life’s many trials seeks love’s redemption in Dead Man’s Rope, with a beautiful guitar setting that would have been at home on Mercury Falling. A twenty year old snippet from The Police’s Synchronicity makes an appearance as the voice sings of walking in your footsteps
- the voice promises to leave bad love forever, vowing that she is Never Coming Home. Another voice from the past is heard in the guitar figure, revisiting the wonderfully quick arpeggios of Bring On The Night (live concert version). This song also has a nifty dance beat overlaying the guitar, and it’s an interesting combination that works well, and the song ends with another jazz improvisation featuring Jason Rebello on piano.
- Cello, sitar, and eastern percussion flavor the pages of The Book Of My Life, a retrospective voice that is most likely that of Sting himself. (He is releasing an auto-biography soon) The song is pretty to listen to, the orchestration is good, but after listening to it a few times, it still fails to turn my pages. It’s not bad, but given the fact that I know about the impending book, it seems like a commercial thrown into the album. The song is notable for having some very nice sitar work by Anoushka Shankar (yes, she IS Ravi Shankar’s daughter)
- Sting does another turn taking on the voice of a character, and this time, he becomes a car thief who finds himself imagining the life of the husband and wife who will soon be missing their expensive Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing). The voice in the thief’s head, imagining the husband and wife’s problems and the promise of a romantic night of dancing, becomes the voice inside his own head as he speeds into the night.
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Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.
~Billy Crystal~
Human sexuality is not ignored along the road to Sacred Love - in Forget About The Future a voice speaks of returning to the “way it was” with his lover; he seems completely ignorant of the fact that hisdefinition of love is not what she needs from him right now – c’mon guys… don’t tell me you’ve never been in this situation…
Just when I think I'm home and dry
And she's given up the fight
There's an unmistakable optimism
In romantic music and candlelight
There's this lingering perfume
The merest ghost of the past
She says wait a minute baby
You're moving way too fast
We'd better check the weather chart
Before we raise this mast
The song has a funky shuffle that reflects the light tone to the words – the love presented here is true to life, a relationship that has undergone many changes since the early days of passion. The song contains the promise of some interesting horn solos when performed in concert – the ending features Chris Botti on trumpet and Clark Gayton on trombone, but they never break out of the horn backing part. I'm sure this song will extend for several minutes live, giving them a chance to shine.
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It is not by the sword or the spear, by soldiers or by armed force that truth is to be promoted, but by counsel and gentle persuasion
~Saint Athenasius~
We find ourselves entangled in a war that is getting messier by the day and this song (written during the build up to the attacks on Iraq) addresses an ugly topic - there are many persons profiting from This War. This voice asks tough questions of those who profit from misfortune and turmoil in the world and dares to ask if the alternative is acceptable "You may have won this war we're fighting/But could you tolerate the peace?" How can we ever find our way to Sacred Love if there is money to be gained by promoting hate and violence? And how can we stop the profiting when those who profit are those who control the weapons? This song belongs on the soundtrack of the revolution - money talks, and we've got to silence it when it comes to war...
In as few words as possible, sum up the music for This War:
THIS SONG ROCKS!
Sting evokes the guitar gods of the 60's, featuring a scorching guitar by Dominic Miller - this song could just as easily have ripped into Vietnam as well as the current war on terrorism. Sting hasn't rocked like this since he remade Demolition Man several years ago; the closest comparison from any of his studio albums is the title song for The Soul Cages. This one moves into my top 10 Sting songs with a bullet (a little irony there for y'all...)
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thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill
but if you don't love her, your best friend will
~Sting~ Sacred Love
A single voice is heard at the end of the journey - a voice of worship and adoration, an outpouring of passionate belief in the embodiment of Sacred Love, found in the guise of a cherished lover. Real love can be found in giving yourself away completely to another soul -
Thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not steal
Thou shalt not doubt that this love is real
So I got down on my knees and I prayed to the skies
When I looked up could I trust my eyes?
All the saints and angels and the stars up above
They all bowed down to the flower of creation
Every man every woman
Every race every nation
It all comes down to this
Sacred love
Sacred Love is one of those fabulously catchy pop songs Sting writes every once in a while - songs like After The Rain Has Fallen, If You Love Somebody Set Them Free, and All This Time come to mind after hearing Sacred Love. Sting is leading the choir here again - the gospel overtones are great, the horns and organ are strong, and the song remains powerful for it's full six minutes. This song should be a big hit for Sting -
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So what is Sacred Love?
Sting has explored love with a firm grounding in reality - he doesn't shy away from the fact that love is not always pretty, and that love is at the center of many of humanity's problems. The songs of Sacred Love all point toward a single statement - love is the strongest force on earth, and it is only love that gives of itself that will conquer fear and evil. Sting has responded to the fear that grips us all, and challenges us to open up to love inside, and then send that love into the lives of those around us.
The sound of Sacred Love is another step forward for Sting - more and more world music elements are finding their way into Sting's repertoire, but they are not just thrown in for flavor. Each instrument has a voice; there are myriad beliefs and vibrant cultures associated with sitars and strings, and flamenco guitars and castanets, among others, and they are all used to support each song they appear in. The instrumentation plays just as big a part in the voices of Sacred Love as the actual human instruments themselves.
UPDATE January 23, 2004
120 days on from purchasing Sacred Love, I've decided that, for me, iSacred Love ranks fourth of seven behind Nothing Like The Sun, The Soul Cages, and The Dream of The Blue Turtles, followed by Brand New Day, Mercury Falling, and Ten Summoner's Tales.
Great Music To Play While Working On The Same Database Project You've Been Working On For The Past Six Weeks
Song List
Inside
Send Your Love
Whenever I Say Your Name
Dead Man's Rope
Never Coming Home
Stolen Car (Take Me Dancing)
Forget About The Future
This War
The Book Of My Life
Sacred Love
Send Your Love (Dave Aude Remix)
Sting's Band is:
Sting - Bass, Vocals
Kipper - Producer, Keyboards, Programming
Dominic Miller - Guitar
Manu Katche - Percussion
Vinnie Colaiuta - Drums
Jason Rebello - Piano, Rhodes
Jeff Young - Hammond Organ
Chris Botti - Trumpet
Christian McBride - Bass
Special Guests
Mary J. Blige and Dave Hartley (Whenever I Say Your Name)
Anoushka Shankar (The Book Of My Life)
Vicente Amigo (Send Your Love)
Listen to Sting s Send Your Love now!Plus preview the making of his new DVD Inside the Songs of Sacred Love and watch the music video for Send Your Lo...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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