De Do Do Do De Da Da Da

So, for today's post we have yet another Sting entry. Only because Sting is in the news, and its been a long time since he has been. Blender magazine further confirms my assumptions about the media's assault on intelligence. Sting has been voted the worst lyricist. Wait. What? That's right, and Neil Peart comes in second. Seriously?! WTF?! Add Bono, Sarah Maclachlan, and H in there and you'll have my list of best songwriters. Now, Sting is used to being called pompous, arrogant and pretentious. But, I never though anyone with a functioning brain would actually question his lyric writing ability.

His strength lies in the fact that he can discuss complex ideas, put into a simple, three verse structure. Like his musical writing, minimalism is the key, but yet there is serious depth and intensity. His songs are easily accessible, he's not overly verbose or obscure, (with the possible exception of Wrapped Around Your Finger). He also strikes a good balance between intellectual and visceral dimensions of a song. As for the subject matter, Sting's lyrics encompass the whole sphere of the humanities. In the words of Daryl Jones, "I've never heard a Sting song that's a nothing song." So he throws in a little Shakespeare, Chaucer, Nabakov, St Augustine, etc. He was one of the inspirations that led me to pursue degrees in English and Philosophy. "Cloying spirituality"?? Are we listening to the same songs? I assume they don't mean that in a religious sense. (and by the way, by using that phrase they are being pompous themselves - their readers can't understand Sting, but they're going to understand that?). Maybe its in the personal sense, but as for being overly sweet - remember "Every Breath You Take" is NOT a love song - Sting usually focuses on the dark side, or at least the dual side of things. Apparently his lyrics are good enough to be made into book form.

So, basically he's too smart for these people. It's strange that we have constant debate about the failure of our educational system, yet we criticize any attempt to appear smart. We now have people on TV that say they don't know, or care, if the world is flat. Who would have thought we would get this stupid? The media wants to retard people so they can tell them how to think. Then its easier to sell Britney, Justin, and any rap to people. Smart people aren't going to stand there and eat crap that they paid for just because that's what they are told to do. This is a magazine that had Kanye West on their latest cover - that shows where Blender's IQ level is at (and thanks Kanye, for ruining the Police performance at Live Earth).

Luckily for me, I usually consider these polls to be the opposite of reality - there's usually too much Bon Jovi and GNR to be taken seriously. As for Sting, he gets free publicity, which coincidentally happens right before his Lyrics book is released. And what about Neil? I dare anybody to listen to "The Pass", and then tell me Neil is a bad songwriter - talk about depth and intensity!