Académique Documents
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50,000
Down, Down, Down
One Fine Day
Pretty Young Soldier
Petrol Head
Heading South On The Great North Road
If You Cant Love Me
Inshallah
The Empty Chair
I Cant Stop Thinking About You (LA Version)
Inshallah (Berlin Sessions Version)
Next To You with The Last Bandoleros (Live at Rockwood Music Hall)
Ive no idea how many times Ive stood at this intersection over the years, waiting for the walking signal to turn white before
crossing the busy thoroughfare that is 57th Street, the old northern border of what used to be known as Hells Kitchen.
Developers here are currently favouring the name Clinton over the more colourful appellation of the past in an attempt to
gentrify what was once a notorious and dangerous neighbourhood. City zoning laws limiting buildings to six stories have
maintained the architectural feel of an older century but there is no longer any threat of danger, the peaceful tree-lined streets
creating a quieter enclave within this noisy and dramatically vertical city. I like walking. I especially like walking to work.
The recording studios that are still left in New York City are situated here in this area; walking twelve blocks or so to work in
whatever the weather sharpens the mind.
I do most of my thinking while walking; I always have - helping my father every morning as a child on his milk round in Newcastle,
where long before the sun came up over the roofs of the town we would have the freedom of its empty streets. We didnt say much
of anything to each other, but the long awkward silences at least allowed me to dream, so I dreamt a life different from my own.
I wanted more than anything to escape, although the map of my internal landscapes still had their parallels in the patterns and
characters of the streets where I delivered milk. One street where my music teacher lived always invoked fantasies about music,
another house on another street where a girl I knew would still be fast asleep in her bed always set me off on some romantic
reverie, and a tenement near my school where a rival gang lived provoked pipe dreams of adventure and risk. Delivering milk to
the shipyard under the giant skeletal hulls of ships had me travelling the wide world, never to return.
So walking and the conjuring of stories were intrinsically bound together for me. I learned to navigate the world singing songs,
songs composed within the binary rhythms of walking and dreaming. The red stoplight has turned white at the corner of
57th & 9th as I head south back to my work in what is still for me Hells Kitcheneager to stir the pot one more time.
I Cant Stop Thinking About You
Sometimes a blank page reminds me of an empty field of snow; I can only stare at it ineffectually. There are no clues to
reveal what might be hidden there - a buried road, or a way forward in the void, something that doesnt yet have a name.
You search your memory, your bookshelves, paintings and old photographs on the wall. A songwriter is like a hunter in the
snow, a gatherer, unsure of exactly what it is hes hunting, but once he acknowledges that the hunt is on and the dogs of
the imagination are loose, then obsession begins.
50,000
It is hard to describe how it feels to stand on a stage and sing a song that you may have written many years prior, perhaps
when you were a young unknown songwriter trying to scrape out a living, and hear every word sung back at you by an
audience comprised sometimes of hundreds of thousands of people. It can be a dangerous and heady feeling of
empowerment, of grandiosity, hubris, or conversely, one of gratitude and respectful humility. All of our lives are fleeting
and its important to take nothing for granted. Frenzy and inertia are twins born of worldly success, blinding light and its
inevitable shadows. Perhaps wisdom is granted only to those who can navigate both.
Perhaps it is in fact a deliberate hoax and we can all just carry on with our rapacious and profligate behaviour in regards to
the finite resources of this planet without a thought for future generations and the depleted world theyre likely to inherit.
I sincerely and passionately hope that the sceptics are right and that the majority of scientists in the related fields of
research are all full of baloney, and for that...perhaps well all be grateful...one fine day!
As a father and a husband, Im forced to imagine myself with a family crammed into one of those boats, fleeing the horrors
of a brutal civil war to find safety in a foreign country. The title of the song is Inshallah, roughly translated from the
Arabic as, if it is Gods will then it will come to pass.
The word magically conjures a number of subtle differences of emotion - resignation, hope, courage, a profound humility
and, for me personally, solidarity.
-Sting
I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU
White page, an empty field of snow, Do I hear laughter in the silence of the snow?
My room is 25 below, I know youre hiding in this frozen heart of Winter.
This cold pen chasing ghosts, A midnight church bell tolls,
A road lies underneath the buried posts. I know youre close, your scents still warm,
Dogs search the under forest, and then the trail turns cold, cold, cold.
We scour the empty streets,
The fact remains until we find you, I cant stop thinking about you,
Our lives are incomplete. I cant stop wanting you this way.
I cant face living without you,
Do I hear laughter through a veil of snow and ice? Thats why Im searching night and day.
Where could you be on such a lonely Winters night? This hearts a lonely hunter,
These hands are frozen fists.
I cant stop thinking about you, I cant stop thinking about you,
I cant stop wanting you this way. I dont care if you exist.
I cant face living without you, I cant stop thinking about you,
Thats why Im searching night and day. I cant stop wanting you this way.
This hearts a lonely hunter, I cant face living without you,
These hands are frozen fists. I cant stop wanting you
I cant stop thinking about you,
I dont care if you exist.
50,000 voices rising every time hed sing, These lines of stress, one bloodshot eye,
And every word he ever wrote reflecting back to him. The unhealthy pallor of a troubled ghost.
Where did I put my spectacle case?
How well I remember the stadiums we played, Im half blind and as deaf as any post.
And the lights sweeping across a sea of 50,000 souls wed face.
A serious drug that you could never kick, 50,000 hands are raised to a man thats just like you and me.
Or one that you couldnt imagine youd ever replace. We create the gods we can and gift them immortality.
Still believing that old lie, the one that your own face betrays,
We flew like kites on the wings of amphetamine, Rock Stars dont ever die, they only fade away.
Secured only to a bass line and a snare drum beat.
But really what did any of it mean?
When theres a higher philosophy in reflection and defeat.
DOWN, DOWN, DOWN
Strange, when you leave me, rain comes down, down, down.
When you withdraw from me, towers come tumbling down, down, down.
Here comes the sound Ive been expecting all these years,
Here comes the sound of everything Ive ever feared,
Here comes the sound, the floors below me disappear,
Here comes the sound, I force my fingers in my ears.
There are two young lovers, theyre pledged to each Come you pretty young soldier,
others hands, Come and be my right hand.
They meet by the river, to talk of their marriage plans. Youre having this strange effect on my soul,
Im confessing, he said, Ive signed for a soldier, That I dont quite understand.
Im leaving tomorrow for some foreign land.
Captain, oh Captain, Ive a confession to make,
She watches the pretty young soldiers, I love someone else and my heart it will break.
As they march themselves off to the war. And as she released her brown hair from a band,
She wonders if shell ever see him again, It tumbled all down her shoulders and into his hands.
Somehow she doubts it, but she has to be sure.
Oh you pretty young soldier,
So she rode into town on the very next day, Come and take my right hand.
And dressed herself up all in mans array. Youre having this strange effect on my soul,
With a sword and a musket she took the Kings shilling, And now I think, I understand.
And to fight in some foreign war,
She said, Yes!, shed be willing.
Ill take you someplace that youve never been before, Ill take you someplace that youve never been before,
A place you might have only dreamt about whats more. A place you might have only dreamt about whats more.
Like Moses driving to his promised land,
Just one road in and just one road out, Left turn at the burning bush, a stick shift, two stone tablets,
I know this country inside out. Gods commandments in my hands.
I speak in tongues, in tongues of fire.
With sixteen wheels for my desire. 300 horse in my V8,
Close to one hundred MPH,
300 horse in my V8, And all the meters up in the red,
Close to one hundred MPH, Now dont you worry your pretty little petrol head
And all the meters up in the red,
Now dont you worry your pretty little petrol head.
Many a dog went wandering, If we get back home, well tell our tales
To sup on fortunes dregs, To all of those wholl listen,
And many a dog came straggling home, The might have beens, the chances lost,
His tail between his sorry legs. The monies that went missing...
Many a caged bird spread his wings, All the memories well unload,
Many a vain bird crowed, The wild oats that well claim wed sowed,
And many a songbird lost her way, The stages where we proudly strode,
Heading South on the Great North Road, As if our cups had overflowed,
South on the Great North Road. With the promise of a different life
Heading South on the Great North Road,
South on the Great North Road.
IF YOU CANT LOVE ME Please sit down, just talk to me, The fields are sown with seeds of doubt,
Well see if we can talk this through, The wine is warm, you spit it out,
Ive tried so hard to understand it, This drinking wont relieve me,
Just tell me something thats close to the truth If you cant love me this way,
Id rather you were cruel than kind, Then you must leave me.
Is all that Im demanding,
Ive given up on peace of mind, The patterns in the distant stars,
For the open wound of understanding. Our fates upon a loom,
The changes in the temperature,
You cant be here and someplace else, When you walked into a room,
If your mind is in that other place, The smell of your perfume,
Youre trying to convince yourself, The taste of your skin,
But youre lying in my face, All those bitter reminders,
Ive listened til my head would spin, Of the failed state Im in.
I dont want half of anything.
How do I breathe now, how do I inhale?
The sand sits in the hourglass, Im a diver on the seabed, my oxygens
Time slips through our fingers fast, failed.
Your counterfeits deceived me, How do I wake up, how do I sleep?
If you cant love me this way, How do I laugh now, I cant even weep?
Then you must leave me. Where do I run to, where do I hide?
An insect preserved in formaldehyde,
Tell me how it came to this, Yesterdays paper its pages curled,
Just dont think to spare me this, How can I live in this broken world?
Perhaps the truth can set us free,
From the half truths ensnaring you and me, Keep up appearances they say,
This black hole of intensity, But all those reasons you might stay,
Collapses on its density, Ring hollow in my mind today,
And sucks me to a darker place, Ive listened til my head would spin,
That hides behind a broken face. I dont want half of anything,
I dont want half of anything.
Keep up appearances they say,
And all those reasons you might stay, The sand it falls in the hour glass,
Ring hollow in my mind today, And time slips through our fingers fast,
Ive listened til my head would spin, And nothing that you say relieves me,
I dont want half of anything, If you cant love me this way,
I dont want half of anything. Then you must leave me.
INSHALLAH
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will, it shall come to pass.
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will, it shall come to pass.
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will...
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will, it shall come to pass.
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will
THE EMPTY CHAIR
And when the Winter comes and the trees lie bare,
And you just stare out the window in the darkness there.
Well I was always late for every meal youll swear,
But keep my place and the empty chair,
And somehow Ill be there,
And somehow Ill be there.
NEXT TO YOU
WITH THE LAST BANDOLEROS (LIVE AT ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL)
I sold my house,
I sold my motor, too, All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you. All I want is to be next to you,
Id rob a bank, All I want is to be next to you
Maybe steal a plane,
You took me over, Saw my doctor he said give it time,
Think Im goin insane. Got this feeling, gonna lose my mind.
When all it is, is just a love affair,
What can I do, You took me over baby, take me there.
All I want is to be next to you.
What can I do, What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you. All I want is to be next to you.
What can I do,
Ive had a thousand girls or maybe more, All I want is to be next to you.
But Ive never felt like this before. What can I do,
But I just dont know whats come over me, All I want is to be next to you.
You took me over, take a look at me. What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you,
What can I do, All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you. All I want is to be next to you,
What can I do, All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you. All I want is to be next to you...
PRODUCED BY Martin Kierszenbaum
RECORDED BY Tony Lake and Donal Hodgson I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU THE EMPTY CHAIR
(except where otherwise noted) Sting Vocals, Bass Sting Vocals, Guitar
Dominic Miller Guitar Jerry Fuentes Guitar
MIXED BY Robert Orton Vinnie Colaiuta Drums Recorded by Tony Lake
Rhani Krija Percussion
ASSISTANT ENGINEERS: Grant Valentine, Jeff Citron, Martin Kierszenbaum Organ
Richie Kennon and Owen Mulholland at Sear Sound; The Last Bandoleros I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT YOU (LA VERSION)
Tyler Hartman and Thom Beemer at Avatar Studios; Mike Gaydusek (Jerry Fuentes, Diego Navaira, Derek James) Backing Vocals Sting Vocals
and Angelo Caputo at NightBird Recording Studios Dominic Miller Guitar
50,000 Rhani Krija Percussion
RECORDED AT Sear Sound (New York, NY), Sting Vocals, Bass Zach Jones Drums
Avatar Studios (New York, NY), NightBird Recording Studios (West Hollywood, CA) Dominic Miller Guitar Martin Kierszenbaum Organ
and Emil Berliner Studios (Berlin, DE) Lyle Workman Guitar The Last Bandoleros:
Josh Freese Drums Jerry Fuentes Vocals, Guitar
STINGS GUITAR TECHNICIAN: Daniel Quatrochi Jerry Fuentes Backing Vocals Diego Navaira Vocals, Bass
Martin Kierszenbaum Organ Derek James Vocals
MASTERED BY Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios Recorded by Tony Lake, Cliff Norrell, and Donal Hodgson
Produced by Martin Kierszenbaum
DOWN, DOWN, DOWN Recorded and Mixed by Tony Lake
Management: Cherrytree Management Sting Vocals, Bass
(Martin Kierszenbaum, Nicole VanGiesen, Dominic Miller Guitar, 12-string INSHALLAH (BERLIN SESSIONS VERSION)
Meghan Johansson, Robin Hansel) Vinnie Colaiuta Drums Sting Vocals
Rhani Krija Percussion Dominic Miller Guitar
Martin Kierszenbaum Organ Rhani Krija Percussion
Public Relations: Forge Ahead Media, Inc. (Tracy Bufferd); Martin Kierszenbaum Keyboards
RMP (Regine Moylett & Bridin Murphy Mitchell) ONE FINE DAY Hazem Nassreddine Turkish Zither
Sting Vocals, Bass, Piano Nabil Alchami Clarinet
Photography: Eric Ryan Anderson Dominic Miller Guitar Salam Alhassan Percussion
Art Direction & Design: Lawrence Azerrad Lyle Workman Guitar Accad Alsaed Percussion
Josh Freese Drums Thabet Azzawi Oud
Special Thanks to Kathryn Schenker, William Francis, Theresa Lowrey, Anita Sumner, Martin Kierszenbaum Organ, Piano Marion Enachescu Violin
Cherry de Lacy, Travis Swords, the staff at Lake House, the staff at il Palagio, Bill Zysblat, Recorded by Tony Lake, Cliff Norrell, and Donal Hodgson Jean-Baptiste Moussarie Guitar
Debbie Kassan, Steve Herrig and everyone at RZO, Joe Brenner, Joe Penachio, and Matthew Kamen Razan Nassreddine Vocals
at Grubman Shire & Meiselas, everyone at A&M/Interscope Records, Stephanie Hsu, David Dunn, PRETTY YOUNG SOLDIER Nadim Sarrouh Oud
Wendy Dunn, and Tina Maidman at Sting.com, Tim Honan, Robert Molnar, Tino Passante at Avatar Sting Vocals, Bass
Studios, Roberta Findlay at Sear Sound, Rainer Maillard at Emil Berliner Studios in Berlin, Dominic Miller Guitar Produced by Martin Kierszenbaum
Zach Jones, Pete Donovan, Martha McDonnell, Chris Arocha, Rob Mathes, and Mike and Lori Casteel. Lyle Workman Guitar Recorded by Tony Lake, Donal Hodgson and Philip Krause
Josh Freese Drums Mixed by Robert Orton
Dominic Miller appears courtesy of ECM Records and uses DAddario strings. Martin Kierszenbaum Organ, Mellotron
Recorded by Tony Lake, Cliff Norrell, and Donal Hodgson
Vinnie Colaiuta plays Gretsch drums and Paiste cymbals.
PETROL HEAD NEXT TO YOU WITH THE LAST BANDOLEROS
Rhani Krija proudly endorses LP, Zildjian, Remo, Schlagwerk, Pearl, VicFirth, Sennheiser, Roland, Sting Vocals, Bass (LIVE AT ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL)
and Ultrasone. Dominic Miller Guitar Sting Vocals
Lyle Workman Guitar Jerry Fuentes Vocals, Guitar
The Last Bandoleros appear courtesy of Warner Brothers Records/Warner Music Nashville and Josh Freese Drums Diego Navaira Vocals, Guitar
play Gibson guitars. Recorded by Tony Lake, Cliff Norrell, and Donal Hodgson Derek James Vocals, Guitar
Emilio Navaira Vocals, Drums
For fan club, tickets and the latest Sting information, visit WWW.STING.COM. HEADING SOUTH ON THE GREAT NORTH ROAD Percy Cardona Button Accordion
Sting Vocals, Guitar
All songs written by Sting, 2016 Steerpike (Overseas) Limited, administered by Dominic Miller Guitar Produced by Jerry Fuentes
EMI Music Publishing Limited, except as noted below: Recorded by Tony Lake Mixed by Robert Orton
50,000, One Fine Day, Pretty Young Soldier and Petrol Head Written by Sting, IF YOU CANT LOVE ME
Dominic Miller, Lyle Workman, and Josh Freese, 2016 Steerpike (Overseas) Limited, Sting Vocals, Bass
administered by EMI Music Publishing Limited, Rutis Music Ltd./Q-Rious Music Publishing Dominic Miller Guitar
(GEMA), Lyleworks (BMG) and Slip n Bleed Music (BMI) Vinnie Colaiuta Drums
Rhani Krija Percussion
Down, Down, Down, and If You Cant Love Me Written by Sting, Dominic Miller, and Martin Kierszenbaum Organ
Vinnie Colaiuta, 2016 Steerpike (Overseas) Limited, administered by EMI Music Rob Mathes Piano
Publishing Limited, Rutis Music Ltd./Q-Rious Music Publishing (GEMA), Spherical Music (BMI)
INSHALLAH
The Empty Chair Written by Sting and J. Ralph, 2016 Steerpike (Overseas) Limited, Sting Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Percussion
administered by EMI Music Publishing Limited and Tubby & Dominic Miller Guitar, Shaker
The Spaniard Music Publishing, LLC (ASCAP) Vinnie Colaiuta Drums
Rhani Krija Percussion
Next To You Written by Sting, 1978 GM Sumner, administered by EMI Music Publishing Limited Martin Kierszenbaum Keyboards
2016 A&M Records. All rights reserved.