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Rating: “I wonder how people will react to seeing a band made up entirely of people of color and a white leader.” (Sting, January 1985)
The concert on March 4, 1984, held at the Showgrounds in Melbourne (Australia), will go down in history as the last live performance of The Police, closing the “Synchronicity” tour. In fact, the next day, Sting would return to Great Britain, Stewart (Copeland) would take a flight to Tahiti, while Andy (Summers) would head to Sri Lanka.
The potential of the three musicians confirmed over the years their career possibilities outside the group, involving themselves in collaborations, soundtracks, and albums of other artists, without ever treading the path of fleeing from a musical project where maximum commitment had always been given by all. Already in the spring of 1984, Andy was fully engaged in promoting “Bewitched” (A&M, 1984), designed and created with the tireless Robert Fripp. The indomitable Stewart prepares to realize his desire to discover Africa which would lead to the publication of “The Rhythmatist.” This work underlines the drummer’s pursuit for continuous stylistic enrichment, which finds full sharing and appreciation among fans and insiders. Sting’s preference leans towards acting, which engages him for “The Bride” alongside the barely over twenty-year-old Jennifer Beals, fresh from the success of “Flashdance.”
Musically, and as the history of The Police has taught us, the bassist never liked resting on his laurels due to a personal tendency towards an unstoppable artistic pursuit that has always led him to investigate new things, consistently confirming the validity of his musical intuition. A profound self-esteem that led him to act by trying to further evolve his writing, which in the safety represented by the band with Summers and Copeland, could never have found full expression.
Sting seeks the help of his journalist friend Vic Gabbarrini for choosing the musicians to involve in a new project distant from the world of rock and familiarizing with jazz. Branford Marsalis (saxophone and percussion) together with bassist Darryl Jones (already with Miles Davis) were the first to join, while the versatile Omar Hakim (since 1983 with Weather Report) was chosen on drums, known during a dinner with Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits in Montserrat during the sessions of “Brothers In Arms.” Kenny Kirkland (simultaneously serving the Polish violinist Michal Urbaniak and the bassist Miroslav Vitous) completes the lineup, capable of sliding his hands on the keyboard with elegance and mannerism, much to the leader’s liking.
The introduction to this new artistic journey is presented by “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free”, where the initially predominantly soul choir blissfully merges with those jazz elements that characterized Sting’s beginnings with Last Exit. A collection of sounds whose roots are visibly distant from The Police’s records but move nimbly following a pop timbre, channeling a text where the analysis of a two-person relationship is seen from a different perspective from the romanticized one in “Every Breath You Take” (“If it’s a mirror you want, just look into my eyes – Or a whipping boy, someone to despise – Or a prisoner in the dark – Tied up in chains you just can’t see – Or a beast in a gilded – That’s all some people ever want to be: If it’s a mirror you want, look into my eyes – But if it’s a scapegoat, someone to despise – Or a prisoner in the dark – Bound by invisible chains – Or a beast in a gilded cage – This is what no one would ever want to be”).
The Caribbean brightness of “Love Is The Seventh Wave”, represents much more than successful entertainment, conveying a message of love dedicated to the whole world through a catchy chorus.
For the drama of “Russians” - Sergey Prokofiev’s “Romanza” is borrowed – as noted in the liner notes – leaving to the classic tones that distinguish the vocal melody for a goose-bump-inducing interpretation. The depth of the lyrics tied to the actuality of the cold war highlights once more the virtuosity and the desire for maturity of The Police bassist (There’s no historical precedent – To put words in the mouth of the president – There’s no such thing as a winnable war – It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore – Mr. Reagan says “We will protect you.” – I don’t subscribe to this point of view – Believe me when I say to you – I hope the Russians love their children too -: In history, there is no precedent – Putting words in the president’s mouth – There’s no such thing as a winnable war – It’s no longer a lie that convinces us – Reagan says “We will protect all of you” – I don’t listen to these concepts – Believe me when I say – I hope the Russians love their children too -).
The notes of “Children’s Crusade” show how an artist characterized by great compositional talent can unleash his creativity, engaging in refined pop that blends with the rise of the waltz that characterizes both verse and chorus. The retrieval of “Shadows In The Rain” (from the equivocal “Zenyatta Mondatta”) is perhaps a message to remind old fans how important it is not to break with one’s past, while clearly showing new ones how alive the roots still are.
The second half of the listen opens with “We Work The Black Seam” and a hypnotic riff in which Kirkland creates the right atmosphere that, combined with a fading tribal rhythm, sets the stage for one of the album’s most beautiful choruses, where the swirling vocalizations soak it in elegance. Equally refined is the jazz-pop of “Consider Me Gone” (whose making was adorned by an unexpected visit in the control room by a very elegant Eddy Grant – owner of the Blue Wave Studios where the recordings of “TDOTBT” were taking place – together with the President of Guyana, causing some embarrassment within the band), where the musical interplay finds definitive release in the title track, a true manifesto of instrumental skill and mastery.
“Moon Over Bourbon Street” (Moon Over Bourbon Street) is an essential swing where the scene is dominated by a vocal pliability reminiscent of Billie Holiday, for which the noble inspiration borrowed from Ann Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire” leads the blonde musician, for this piece only, to set aside the guitar for a soft double bass accompaniment. The familiarity of the rhythm and melodic pace of “Fortress Around Your Heart” ushers the end of the listen, delighting those who want to savor, under a new guise, already known emotions that should never fade away.
From the cover photo, the resemblance in expressive resolve with the great Lawrence Olivier, who excellently portrayed the wise King Lear, embodying the Shakespearean tragedy without equal, cannot go unnoticed. Likewise, the juxtaposition of the musician from Wallsend to Sir Lawrence does not seem at all out of place, considering the boldness in playing the role of a modern and straightforward poet, to which the heterogeneous combination of atmospheres, style, and sounds seals the preciousness of the whole.
The album can be seen as a successful combination of styles that draws from the past but is oriented towards the future in an attempt to merge the two musical cultures at its core: white and black. The result is given by the sum of those musical components ranging from jazz to funk, also passing through classical music and rock as needed, to be elegantly and wisely fused.
Regarding the title, Sting traces the inspiration back to a sort of nightmare (also easily interpretable!), where the devastation of his yard was caused precisely by blue turtles; very different from the pleasant imagery that, after listening, this album can generate among The Police fans, but also inevitably among an audience capable of appreciating its artistic depth. That same depth is capable of ensuring the start of a new and risky solo experience, acting in defiance of the solid past that would have guaranteed safety and survival without further challenging oneself.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 If You Love Somebody Set Them Free (04:16)
Free, free, set them free
Free, free, set them free
Free, free, set them free
If you need somebody
Call my name
If you want someone
You can do the same
If you want to keep something precious
You got to lock it up and throw away the key
If you want to hold onto your possession
Don't even think about me
If you love somebody
If you love someone
If you love somebody
If you love someone, set them free
Set them free
Set them free
Set them free
If it's a mirror you want
Just look into my eyes
Or a whipping boy
Someone to despise
Or a prisoner in the dark
Tied up in chains you just can't see
Or a beast in a gilded cage
That's all some people ever want to be
If you love somebody
If you love someone
If you love somebody
If you love someone, set them free
Set them free
Set them free
Set them free
You can't control an independent heart
Can't tear the one you love apart
Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches
So many souls
With everything we see that we want to possess
If you need somebody
Call my name
If you want someone
You can do the same
If you want to keep something precious
You got to lock it up and throw away the key
You want to hold onto your possession
Don't even think about me
If you love somebody
If you love someone
If you love somebody
If you love someone, set them free
Set them free
Set them free
Set them free
Set them free
03 Russians (03:58)
In Europe and America
There's a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Kruschev said, "We will bury you"
I don't subscribe to this point of view
It'd be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too
How can I save my little boy
From Oppenheimer's deadly toy?
There is no monopoly of common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the president?
There's no such thing as a winnable war,
It's a lie we don't believe anymore
Mister Reagan says; "We will protect you"
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you,
Is if the Russians love their children too
04 Children's Crusade (05:01)
Young men, soldiers, nineteen fourteen
Marching through countries they'd never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a children's crusade
Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained the blood of a whole generation
Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History's lessons drowned in red wine
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a children's crusade
The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained the blood of a whole generation
Midnight in Soho nineteen eighty four
Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a children's crusade
06 We Work the Black Seam (05:42)
This place has changed for good
Your economic theory said it would
It's hard for us to understand
We can't give up our jobs the way we should
Our blood has stained the coal
We tunnelled inside the nation's soul
We matter more than pounds and pence
Your economic theory makes no sense
One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole
Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimy faces were never seen
But deadly for twelve thousand years is
carbon fourteen
We work the black seam together
The seam lies underground
Three million years of pressure packed it down
We walk through ancient forest lands
And light a thousand cities with our hands
Your dark satanic mills
Have made redundant all our mining skills
You can't exchange a six inch band
For all the poison streams in Cumberland
One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole
Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimy faces were never seen
But deadly for twelve thousand years is
carbon fourteen
We work the black seam together
Our concious lives run deep
You cling onto your mountain while we sleep
This way of life is part of me
There is no price so only let me be
And should the children weep
The turning world will sing their souls to sleep
When you have sunk without a trace
The universe will suck me into place
One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can't control
And bury the waste in a great big hole
Power was to become cheap and clean
Grimy faces were never seen
But deadly for twelve thousand years is
carbon fourteen
We work the black seam together
09 Moon Over Bourbon Street (04:01)
There's a moon over Bourbon Street tonight
I see faces as they pass beneath the pale lamplight
I've no choice but to follow that call
The bright lights, the people, and the moon and all
I pray everyday to be strong
For I know what I do must be wrong
Oh you'll never see my shade or hear the sound of my feet
While there's a moon over Bourbon Street
It was many years ago that I became what I am
I was trapped in this life like an innocent lamb
Now I can never show my face at noon
And you'll only see me walking by the light of the moon
The brim of my hat hides the eye of a beast
I've the face of a sinner but the hands of a priest
Oh you'll never see my shade or hear the sound of my feet
While there's a moon over Bourbon Street
She walks everyday through the streets of New Orleans
She's innocent and young from a family of means
I have stood many times outside her window at night
To struggle with my instinct in the pale moonlight
How could I be this way when I pray to God above
I must love what I destroy and destroy the thing I love
Oh you'll never see my shade or hear the sound of my feet
While there's a moon over Bourbon Street
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Other reviews
By Grasshopper
Sting has continuously sought a compromise between his noble passions and the taste of the broadest possible audience.
This sycophantic record, made to please everyone, is still very enjoyable to listen to after 20 years.
By primiballi
Sting understood that things are born, develop, and end.
Creating an album both light and intellectual. Easy and difficult. Of immediate enjoyment as well as long chewed.
