If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow’s rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime’s argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are
On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star, like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are…
– “Sting” aka Gordon Sumner
LET’S STOP the world and get off. Last week has been quite toxic as expected, and the usual suspects, i.e. the “devotees to the cult of the yellow ribbon”, have stepped up their attacks on President Rodrigo Duterte, this time using Presidential Communications Operations (PCOO) assistant secretary Margaux Justiniano Uson a.k.a. Mocha as their object of desire.
Of course, Mocha made fools of them and turned the tables as Teddy Boy Locsin twitted: Nobody was paying attention to federalism except its critics who didn’t bother to read the proposal. Maybe thanks to Mocha they will.
And we segue to Fragile…
This is probably one if not the most melancholic song of former “Police” frontman and bass player Gordon Sumner a.k.a. Sting. It evokes a somewhat moody feeling of sad dreamy memories. Simply put, the structure and arrangement is almost like a love ballad but it’s not; it is in fact a protest song.
Ehen one listens to it for the first time you’d assume it’s arranged as an acoustic folk song but the more you listen to it you’ll find strong elements of jazz and some subtle strains of blues.
In fact, the song has found its way into the jazz repertoire and has been covered by numerous renowned jazz artists such as Pat Metheny, the Esbjörn Svensson Trio and Simone Kopmajer.
From that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
Fragile is a song written and performed by English musician Sting from his second studio album “Nothing like the Sun.”
The song seems to speak to acts of violence committed by those who are religious; especially those religions rooted in non violence but practitioners “forget” and commit violent acts in the name of or in spite of these teachings.
This immediately brings to mind the New People’s Army or NPA, the hypocrites of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines or CBCP and, of course, the “devotees to the cult of the yellow ribbon.”
The song is a tribute to Ben Linder, an American civil engineer who was killed by the Contras in 1987 while working on a hydroelectric project in Nicaragua.
Before you get lost in translation here’s what the free online encyclopedia has to say about the artist:
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born Oct. 2, 1951), better known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He was the principal songwriter, lead singer, and bassist for the new wave rock band The Police from 1977 to 1984, before launching a solo career.
He has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age and worldbeat in his music. As a solo musician and a member of The Police, he has received 16 Grammy Awards.
And about Sting’s former band:
The Police were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the band consisted of Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police became globally popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s and are generally regarded as one of the first new-wave groups to achieve mainstream success, playing a style of rock influenced by punk, reggae, and jazz. They are also considered one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the United States. They disbanded in 1986, but reunited in early 2007 for a one-off world tour that ended in August 2008.
Sting actually wrote this song during a tropical storm in the Caribbean island of Montserrat in 1987. Since then the song has become the voice of many causes particularly by environmentalist to care for this planet.
Here are comments about the song from www.songfacts.com:
The song was inspired by the death of an innocent man who was mistaken for an enemy and killed when all he actually wanted was to help. I don’t know what is worse: killing someone accidentally by mistake or killing someone because you want to…
The song points out that either way, all forms of violence, are brutal, tragic and most of all useless.
And if not, you object to violence in general, perhaps you need the death of an innocent to awake you and make you re-think the methods and use of war or violence. I think that’s what Sting means with “Perhaps this final act was meant to clinch a lifetime’s argument…
It’s because of songs like “Fragile” and his involvement in several environmental and political causes that “Sting” was called by some as the “John Lennon” of his generation perhaps yes in some ways but not quite. (brotherlouie16@gmail.com/PN)
