Summoning The Sting Of A Muse Giving Shape To My Heart
Written: Jan 18 '00
Product Rating:
Pros: An eclectic blend of musical styles that influenced this master storyteller; 6th solo effort post-Police days; Perfect album for singles and couples.
Cons: Probably wouldn't appeal to hard-core, heavy metal thrasher types.
wildvirgogirl's Full Review: Ten Summoner's Tales by Sting
Quote-o-the-Day: "Be yourself no matter what they say." ~ Sting
HISTORY OF STING - A WORKING CLASS MAN
The eldest of four children raised by working class parents, Gordon Matthew Sumner began his adult life as a ditch digger. In 1974, after attaining his teaching license, he became an instructor in a Roman Catholic high school. Sumner eventually became a jazz musician in the late 1970s.
Sumner joined many jazz bands during the early part of his musical career, including The Phoenix Jazzmen, who dubbed him 'Sting' (short for 'Stinger') after he arrived at a jam session dressed in a black and yellow rugby shirt, resembling a bumble bee. The name stuck.
When he met US citizen and drummer, Stewart Copeland, in a London pub the week following New Years Eve in 1977, Sting decided it was time to try to create his own band. Only four days later, he began rehearsing with guitarist Henri Padovani and Copeland in the latter's studio.
In six months, (following several successful local gigs), Sting and Copeland were introduced to guitarist Andy Summers and the punk rock band known as The Police) was borne. Yes, you read that correctly, PUNK rock.
In 1984, after nearly *eight years* of world-renowned successes as a three-piece band, (mostly due to a change in style from punk to pop/rock), The Police quietly called it quits. No formal announcement of their disbanding was ever made. Each went their separate ways, making a go of it as solo musicians and composers.
Sting withstood this break-up, which came on the heels of a messy divorce from his first wife, Frances Tomelty, that same year. To cope, he wrote poetry and lyrics, beginning his solo career in 1985. Rather than focusing on his losses, he turned his attention inward -- creating sombre, cynical yet tender, ballads and upbeat, rhythmically-charged soft rock tunes, which were popular in the late 1980s.
Ten Summoner's Tales was his sixth solo album produced early in 1993 following his marriage to his second wife, Trudie Styler. The title foreshadows this album's content -- it is a combination of Sting (Sumner) and the muse he 'summons' to guide him through the stories he tells.
It features the following 11 tracks and is best played during a time of solace (while musing in one's own thoughts) or while one is entwined in the arms of a significant other. The tone of Sting's messages range from the essence of discovering la joie de vivre (the joy of life), to utter despair and cynicism over the loss of love.
TRACKS If I Ever Lose My Faith In You (4:29)
- the most played record on American radio in 1993; it's about losing faith and having hope; starts off with a flattened fifth (a blues tri-tone), which was banned by the Roman Catholic church as 'devil's music.'
Love Is Stronger Than Justice (The Munificent Seven) (5:09)
- written in 7/4 time (upbeat tempo); an eccentric blending of country, spaghetti Western, and jazz.
Fields Of Gold (3:40)
- harks back to the methodic pace of Every Breath You Take, minus the dark mood; a love song in honor of couples rollicking in a landscape of barley fields.
Heavy Cloud No Rain (3:46)
- originally dubbed Heavy Guitar No Brain, this song partially tells of a drought experienced in England, but adds a funny, cheerful, jazzy story line about Louis XVI having an astrologer who would tell him his execution could be postponed if it rained.
She's Too Good For Me (2:30)
- a fast-paced rockabily, rock-n-roll tune which is suddenly thrown for a loop when a peaceful string quartet is added to the mix for good measure; tells of 'Sting's faults' as he felt his ex-wife would have described to her friends.
Seven Days (4:39)
- a hybrid of 5/4 time, reggae, and Broadway show tunes scrambled together count down the days of the week, ending in despair; a hip, groovy danceable beat; introspective lyrics about his relationship with a woman; offers a memorable line or two from his Police days at its close.
Saint Augustine In Hell (5:17)
- uses his Roman Catholic upbringing and jazz roots as the basis for a story depicting a man who is tempted by his best friend's girlfriend; (the girl is an incredible being); subsequently the man ends up in Hell because his best friend murders him with a switchblade.
It's Probably Me (5:08)
- co-written with Eric Clapton and Michael Kamen; the nocturnal, love song for the film Lethal Weapon 5 starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover; features characters (perceived as macho dudes) who would hesitate to tell one another they love each other, but admit they would die for one another in battle.
Shape Of My Heart (4:38)
- See below for details about this slow, melancholy song and read its inquisitive lyrics.
Something The Boy Said (5:28)
- an interesting theme of a prediction running its fatal course, which recalls Sting's failed attempts at seeking love; reminiscent of earlier works produced by The Police.
Epilogue (Nothing 'Bout Me) (3:41)
- a mischievious, tongue-in-cheek tune for people who like to psychoanalyze Sting and his music; mocks the listener, saying, 'Well, you've heard the songs but you know nothing about me'; a tribute to his Black blues and jazz roots, with a bit of 80s pop tossed in to smooth out this toe-tapping beat.
ADDITIONAL TRACK NOT FEATURED IN SOME RELEASES Everybody Laughed but You is on most versions of Ten Summoner's Tales, but was omitted from the US and Canadian releases.
ALBUM RECORDED AT:
Sting's private estate in Wiltshire, England called Lake House.
STING & HIS INSTRUMENTS
Sting plays guitar, bass guitar, mandolin, piano, harmonica, saxophone, and pan flute on this album.
STING'S FAMILY LIFE First Wife: Frances Tomelty, actress
Married 1976-1982; fathered two children - Joseph and Fuscia. Second Wife: Trudie Styler, actress
Married 1992; fathered four children - Brigitte, Jake, Eliot, and Giacomo.
WVG's FAVORITE TRACK
Many of this album's tunes received radio airplay, but Shape Of My Heart speaks to me the most. It is representative of a man who survived adversity and subsequently inked away his demons; a grand storyteller with the ability to touch my soul with his music.
STING ON SHAPE OF MY HEART
Thoughts from his 1993 Promotional Interview "I wanted to write about a card player, a gambler who gambles not to win but to try and figure out something; to figure out some kind of mystical logic in luck, or chance; some kind of scientific, almost religious law. So this guy's a philosopher, he's not playing for respect and he's not playing for money, he's just trying to figure out the law - there has to be some logic to it. He's a poker player so it's not easy for him to express his emotions, in fact he doesn't express anything, he has a mask, and it's just one mask and it never changes."
"The derivation of playing cards are actually tarot cards, and they are thousands of years old... The shape of the heart is not the shape of the human heart so there's a kind of conflict there between reality and fantasy."
LYRICS Shape Of My Heart
Written by: Sting & Dominic Miller
He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He don't play for respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
And if I told you that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Well, those who speak know nothin'
And find out to their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who fear are lost
I know that the spades are the swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
That's not the shape, the shape of my heart
That's not the shape, the shape of my heart
FEATURED ARTIST ON SHAPE OF MY HEART Larry Adler, who haunts this track with his soulful harmonica, was blacklisted during the McCarthy era of the 1940s. He has lived in London ever since. Adler has played with the best of history's great bands and musicians, including Gershwin. Sting handpicked him to compliment this particular song's lyrics.
CHART HISTORY OF SHAPE OF MY HEART
Released March 1993, nearly 10 years after the smash hit single, Every Breath You Take, by The Police. United Kingdom - highest position - # 2 United States - highest position - # 2
ALBUM INFORMATION http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000005IL1/qid=948112522/sr=1-1/103-4996386-8396650 Title: Ten Summoner's Tales Artist: Sting Produced by: A&M Records, Inc. (1993) Price: $13.99 (compact disc) $9.88 (cassette) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours from Amazon.com
RELATED MEDIA http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0941807207/zenyattaregatta/103-4996386-8396650
The fourth in a series of Art & Poetry, The Shape Of My Heart features the lyrics of Sting's song complimented by 25 colorplate images, created by the master of Modern Art, Pablo Picasso. This 32-page hardcover text, published by Stewart Tabori & Chang, is available through Amazon.com for $12.57 plus shipping and handling charges.
STING - COVER STORY - JANUARY 2000 Guitar World Acoustic magazine is running a cover story on Sting featuring an in-depth interview and several photos. GWA is on sale now at your favorite music outlet or you can sign up for a subscription online at http://www.guitarworld.com. The cost is $19.94 for 12 issues, a savings of 60% off the cover price.
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