Sting
Songs From The Labyrinth

First of all, it is essential to confess, with the utmost sincerity, one's boundless ignorance. I had skimmed here and there about this record, and I had heard from ignoramuses like myself (and perhaps even more) who write in newspapers and flaunt their ignorance boldly but would never confess it, not even under torture.

Anyway, there was a buzz that Sting might release a bold and absolutely “out” work, with the blessing of a big name in classical music, that “Deutsche Grammophon,” with the yellow logo, of which each of us has at least one record at home, be it the famous arias even grandmothers hum, collections of adagios that incite depression, or genuinely beautiful and sought-after records bought by true classical music enthusiasts. So, is this a classical music record?

I would say no, unless in a sense of the term so broad (and perhaps right) that it would classify a lot of stuff as classical, starting with The Beatles and De André, not to mention Guthrie or Brassens. According to the notion that songs, this monster of popularity, can be defined as classical without any reverential fear or inferiority complex. Anyway, returning to my ignorance on the matter, and that of my trusted record dealer, a few days ago I walked in and asked for “Sting’s latest,” adding, with an intellectual tone but with the grin of someone ready to be unmasked, “but it's about songs by someone from the '800s… no…?” and he looked at me, much more professorial than I, and without the cunning of the grin, “no… from the '400s.” Well, upon opening the cover and reading the nice booklet, I realized that mediating between my ignorance and his, we hit the mark by stopping at the '600s…

The songs are all by an Elizabethan author, John Dowland (1563-1626), except for one by Robert Johnson (don't worry: it’s a namesake) (1583-1633), and are accompanied exclusively by the lute of a very talented Edin Karamazov, who, of course, I don’t know, limiting my boundless expertise to jazz and singer-songwriters, but whom I immediately find technically very good and expressive. So, to summarize: a rather long record by Sting who performs, accompanied only by the lute, songs by a seventeenth-century author. There’s everything in place for it to be a colossal bore, you might say, notoriously lacking a sense of poetry. Well… as I, a beast like you and perhaps even more, say that this record is genuinely beautiful and educational, even towards us (one is never too old to be a bit educated). It sounds fantastic.

Sting sings splendidly, as was expected. The songs are beautiful, extremely well-written, both in terms of music and literary part, not exactly the English of songs that allows you to understand everything if you've learned two of the 7-8 key words. Here, indeed, it is advisable to have a dictionary nearby, thus discovering beautiful, poetic lyrics, mainly about love. A record that has a “new age” flavor, if the term were not improper and fundamentally overused and banal.

In short…: let’s summarize by saying it’s a very enjoyable work, which provides great companionship, and doesn’t even need to be desecrated, as it is fundamentally accessible. Moreover, it is proof that high-quality writing, as demonstrated in different times by Archilochus, Pavese, De André, or Dylan, is timeless and beyond fashion. Just like poor quality, as proven in other times and ways by Manzoni and Tamaro.

And this, forgive my ignorance, is the educational side.