Pros: Sting shows off his versatility in widely different styles
Cons: A Sting song should never remind the listener of Stephen Bishop...ever
The Bottom Line: If you are a serious Sting collector, buy this recording. If you want to hear Sting against a sound that isn't his usual style, this is a CD worth considering.
bob_tomato's Full Review: I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying [Maxi Single] by ...
Song List
I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying
This Was Never Meant To Be
(Co-written with Anne Dudley of The Art of Noise)
Giacomo's Blues
Beneath A Desert Moon
Facts about "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying"
(Found at Sting's official site http://www.sting.com)
Released on the album "Mercury Falling", March 6th 1996
UK - Single released September 30, 1996
Highest UK Chart position - #54, 1 week on the chart
Highest US Chart position (Billboard Country) - #2 performed by Toby Keith
Mr. Versatility
Sting did have a middle name at one time - Matthew. If he decided he ever needed a different one, then perhaps he could consider "Versatility" - not a really popular choice, I admit, yet one that definitely describes him. His albums and his concert performances often range widely across musical styles, blending rock, jazz, and pop with world music, gospel and even classical. You never know what he will attempt next, and Sting almost always makes each song unmistakably his. The CD maxi-single for "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" shows us four different Stings: Country Sting, Ballroom Sting, Jazz Sting, and the rarely seen Lousy Song Sting. I'd like to end this review on a good note, so let's go over my least favorite song on the single first.
Bishop Sting
"Beneath a Desert Moon" is not one of Sting's better songs - of course, his few "bad" songs are better than a lot of really bad songs that somehow become popular. If the title leads you to expect another "Desert Rose", you are in for a disappointment. The lyrics are interesting as always, but the tune is bland and lifeless. The most noticeable thing about this song is a familiar melody within the verses - Sting seemingly lifted a portion of Stephen Bishop's "On and On" for this song. This is probably what ruined the song for me; once I linked the scrap of melody to Bishop, I couldn't get "On and On" out of my head. I don't want to hear Stephen Bishop when I listen to Sting; in fact, I usually don't want to hear Stephen Bishop at all. (Bonus mini-review: I recently heard Mr. Bishop play at the Plano Balloon Festival - my negative feelings about him were quickly reinforced.) With those unpleasantries out of the way, let's move on to the title song.
Sting, Man in Black?
Sting told Billboard magazine in September 1999: "I was No. 2 on the Billboard country chart with I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying off my Mercury Falling album. Me doing a country song is certainly an irony, being an English boy. But it was covered in Nashville [by Toby Keith] and was a big thrill because it authenticated what I was half-attempting, you know?" Sting made sure he included tried and true country elements; first, a solid Nashville sound, and second, the lyrics address a popular country topic - divorce. Sting enlisted one of Nashville's top steel guitar players to join him for the recording, and the country sound is authentic. The song doesn't sound like Sting blending country into his style, it's a pure country sound that the band produces. The lyrics are classic Sting, as he creates a character who describes different emotions with the same words. The character is a recently divorced man who encounters his ex, his friend, and his lawyer, and responds cynically to their inquiries about his emotional state, "I'm so happy, I can't stop crying". After taking a walk alone under the stars, he begins to see himself and his situation in a new way, and he takes on a more positive attitude about his life. He meets his friend again:
I saw that friend of mine, he said,
"You look different somehow"
I said, "Everybody's got to leave the darkness sometime"
I'm so happy that I can't stop crying
I'm laughing through my tears
In his "All This Time" documentary DVD, Sting observed, "I've been divorced and if there has been one failure in my life, it's been the failure of my first marriage. I think a lot of people relate to that song, especially when you have children. So there's a kind of catharsis involved in writing about an issue like that. Yes, I know that mood very well."
In The Mood?
It's another mood entirely as Sting sings "This Was Never Meant To Be" from a ballroom stage of the thirties and forties. The song is a period piece, matching the setting of the movie it was written for, "The Grotesque", co-starring Sting and his wife Trudie Styler. Sting co-wrote the song with the film's soundtrack composer, Anne Dudley of The Art of Noise. The ballroom mood is set with the typical clarinet section and muted trumpets, and the lush sweeping melody is made for dancing the night away with your sweetheart. In the past, Sting has performed standards from this era, and it suits him well. It's an interesting song, and it probably makes more sense in the context of the film, but it's fun to hear Sting in front of the big band sound.
Sting, Cool Jazz Cat
Finally, "Giacomo's Blues" is a jazz instrumental, featuring piano solo by Kenny Kirkland. Sting has released several of these jazz pieces, which are usually recorded during the production of a new album. Sting has always surrounded himself with some of the world's greatest jazz musicians, and it is only natural for the band to fall back on their improvisational strengths. It is this creative freedom that gives Sting many ideas for new arrangements of old material, and more importantly, creates a tightly knit band that can perform Sting's usual material incredibly well, and can also spontaneously move a song in a new direction.Sting and Kirkland performed "Giacomo's Blues" in a "Making of Mercury Falling" TV special that aired in Europe. In that documentary, Kirkland even suggested that Sting's band should tour small jazz clubs doing this sort of material - I would be the first in line for that tour.
Overall Impressions
Sting's tours will probably continue to be in large venues for some time to come, since he writes so well, and with such a wide variety of styles that he blends into his own unique sound. This recording shows that Sting does well outside of his own sound, both in the Nashville sound of "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" and the ballroom setting of "This Was Never Meant To Be". His jazz roots are displayed again in "Giacomo's Blues", but "Beneath a Desert Moon", the one song that sounds most like his usual style, comes off as flat and boring. "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" is a good Sting maxi-single, and should be added to any serious Sting collection.
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