I found this video today explaining why Sting is beyond duplication. I’ve always suspected there are layers of layers of complexity is Sting’s music, and this video only scratches the surface. There simply is no musician/songwriter like Sting, and while I don’t always like his songs, I have a great deal of respect for his abilities. He’s always out there pushing the envelope, but not to be avant garde, not to show off. He simply wants to set his music in the most effective way possible.
Take for example, his song Seven Days. It’s set in 5/4 meter, but it’s syncopated in a playful, off-balance manner that enhances the story of a man in a love triangle trying to figure out what to do about his rival. His life is completely unbalanced, he knows he needs to act, but doesn’t know how. He’s feeling helpless, and while he is proud of his intellect, he’s going to think himself into total inaction and lose. It’s a very non-heroic song, and yet smacks to true to life (at least for people like me). It’s absolutely brilliant–and that’s without even looking at his chord structures, his word choice, his melodic structures, choice of instruments, or the anything else.
I haven’t checked to see what he’s up to lately in his collaboration with Shaggy, whomever that is. But it’s been a fascinating trip thus far watching how Sting has evolved into an ageless musician. He appeals to no particular age group or style, and yet his appeal is vast. You can’t contain him in any particular genre. His Songs From the Labyrinth on Deutsche Grammophon is proof of that. They’re a “serious” music label, reserved for classical music and musicians, and yet Sting’s treatment of John Dowland’s music is a serious labor of love and dedication.
In some ways he reminds me of Loreena McKennitt in his dedication to exploring the vast world of music and stories, and yet their approaches are distinct. I’d love to see a collaboration between them someday.
In the mean time I’m grateful to have discovered Sting within the necessarily limited scope of my lifetime.