You said you made the record to keep you sane but it will also probably bring a lot of joy to people? When did it cross your mind it might not only be for you? It crosses my mind that that might be the case but there’s no guarantee. You can do something completely for yourself and no one quite understands it. So I’m always heartened when someone says, ‘Oh I enjoyed the record, it made me happy’ or ‘made me thoughtful’ or something. But the first reason to make music is because you have to. It’s a compulsion.
Which song started it all for you on the new record? I was wondering what to write about and I had a big book of Old English folk songs. And I just at random found an old song called ‘Lord Bateman’ about someone from my part of the world. It’s from the 12th century and it’s about a Lord and it’s about a betrayal. I thought the song was very interesting. It’s 21 verses long so I condensed it into maybe seven or eight, rewrote the music, but it begins with the odd ballad. So that was a nice way to begin, with something very old and trying to refresh it.
Do songs from the 12th century resonate with you, with all of us? Absolutely. I love old music. It shows us where our music comes from. It didn’t just arrive. The folk music tradition is a very important one. Folk songs were never written down. They were passed from singer to singer and every singer would adapt what they did. So it wasn’t like a museum, it’s like a living, organic evolution. So the song is still evolving. I’ve changed the song again. Purists would say, ‘Oh, you can’t do that.’ But I’d say, ‘No no, the folk tradition is meant to be evolutionary.’
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So Sting, you’ve been working hard during the pandemic? I’ve been in the studio every day for two years, starting at ten, working through until dinner, not really knowing what I was doing but knowing it was important for me to just put the hours in! I didn’t know what I would write about, what would occur to me – but it kept me sane.
Otherwise, what would have happened? I don’t know. I’m not used to being in one place for so long, I’m used to being on stage every other night. So this was an unusual experience for me. I imagine some people have gone crazy during lockdown. We’re all psychologically different but this is how I stayed OK so I feel I’m fine. But we’re not out of this yet and so we need to be cautious.
So it was almost like therapy for yourself? Music has always been therapy for me. I think from the very early days of playing guitar as a child, it kept me sane. Song writing is a form of therapy, it’s a form of meditation, self-examination. So yep.
So even as a young child you were drawn to the guitar to see you through life’s difficulties? Oh I recognised that immediately as a child when I had this thing [points to guitar on lap] that it was my friend. I didn’t speak for a couple of years - I just played. It was weird because I am weird.
Did you also sing as a child? Yeah, I don’t know why I got the idea that I could sing but I did. My parents are musicians, so I suppose that was in my DNA.
Even today, is singing and playing more natural to you than talking? I have to play every day. It’s like water for a fish. My guitar is my sense of comfort.
Are you optimistic there will be music in 800 years? I have to be. I think all of us have to be optimistic, even though it gets more difficult. That’s the only way we’re going to survive. I think my optimism is tempered by realism but at the same time. To be pessimistic, that’s self-fulfilling. So it’s a better strategy to be optimistic.
You are jumping out of bed in ‘If it’s love’ so this is an optimistic move to do in the morning? Yeah, I mean the whole album isn’t like that but I thought it’s useful to begin a project and say, ‘Come on, let’s have a smile, let’s do our work and be happy about it.’ The song reminds me of my father who was a milkman. He would whistle when he delivered the milk. You see window cleaners whistling while they do their job. There’s something about whistling that’s very therapeutic
Is that you whistling on the song? That’s me.
You went with your father to deliver the milk every now and then? Did you get that cheerfulness from him? I did go with him but he wasn’t particularly cheerful no. But he did whistle. I remember that.
Whistling always make you think someone is in good spirits? Maybe you’re in bad spirits but you need to whistle to cheer yourself up.
You say ‘If it’s love there is no cure’ – is it a sickness you’d rather have? All aspects of being in love are explored on this record – from misery to joy and everything in between. I’ve experienced all of those things so I can write with a certain authenticity. I’ve
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