Sting has occasionally flaunted his pretentious reading habits. After all, this is a guy who named an album Synchronicity so that we would all know that he reads philosophy for fun. So, when he first became a solo act, it was natural to scour his lyrics for literary references.
Sting: Moon Over Bourbon Street
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Sure enough, The Dream of the Blue Turtles contains a song called "Moon Over Bourbon Street", whose lyrics, heard nowadays, suggest that Sting may be referencing some tortured protagonist from a book that only he read. But that's not quite what happened.
The album was greeted warmly by the music press at the time. Much was made of how working with jazz musicians was musically liberating for Sting, (shades of Joni Mitchell ten years earlier!). And, lo and behold, when the source of "Moon Over Bourbon Street" was revealed, it was a surprise. Sting had read a bestseller! The book is "Interview With a Vampire" by Anne Rice.
Three years later, Sting's second album, Nothing Like the Sun, came out. The press reception for this one was different. At the time, the major labels were actively trying to make vinyl obsolete so that they could profit from people having to replace their collections on CD. Even though CDs cost about half as much to manufacture, they cost about twice as much to buy, and the artists royalty rates were the same for either format. As part of this strategy, Nothing Like the Sun was released as a two record set on vinyl with pricing to match, even though, with a total running time of about forty-five minutes, the music would easily have fit on a single disc. The controversy over this unfortunately overshadowed the coverage of the music and its creation.
Sting: Sister Moon
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Sister Moon is the closest thing to a title track, since it contains the phrase "Nothing Like the Sun" in its lyrics. It also has lines like "I go out of my mind the full moon." So, is the song based on a best selling werewolf novel? Actually, no. Sting explains in the liner notes:
I was accosted late one night on Highgate Hill by a staggering drunk who... pointed to the moon which was swollen in its fullness and demanded of me threateningly, 'How beautiful is the moon?... How beautiful is the Moon?' he repeated. Thinking quickly and not wishing for an early toxic death, I fixed him with my eye and declaimed, 'My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun.' Shakespeare is always useful I've found for calming down violent drunks if only because it gives them the impression that you're crazier than they are. 'A good answer...' he said. 'A good answer' as he set off...
Now, I'm glad it worked, but that certainly is not the first thing that would come to my mind. So the pretentious reading habits had returned. That said, great story and two great songs.
Submitted by Darius
