Friday, July 03, 2009

Music and Lyrics

Sting writes in the introduction to his book, Lyrics:

The two, lyrics and music, have always been mutually dependent, in much the same way as a mannequin and a set of clothes are dependent on each other; separate them, and what remains is a naked dummy and a pile of cloth.

Though I am a fan of Sting’s songwriting, I might not want to buy this hardbound book in which all his lyrics are published, with a brief intro for some of them, much like liner notes.

I glanced through these notes in a book store - apparently, the beautiful “Mad about you” is based on the story of David and Bathsheba, and what a great love song it is!
And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominations over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love.
"...and the punishment comes in Chapter 12".