Advanced Search
Print - Close Window
www.greenwood.com/catalog/C9360.aspx
All Greenwood Products
The Words and Music of Sting
Book Code: C9360
ISBN: 0-275-99360-4
ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99360-3
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 12/30/2008
List Price: $44.95 (UK Sterling Price: £22.95)
Availability: Not yet published. (Estimated publication date, 12/30/2008)
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Sting has successfully established himself as one of the most important singer-songwriters in Western popular music over the past twenty years. His affinity for collaborative work and disparate musical styles has pushed his music into an astonishing array of contexts, but no matter what the style or who the collaborator, Sting's voice always remains distinct, and this fact has earned him success amongst a correspondingly broad audience. Songs from his period with The Police, such as "Roxanne", "Don't Stand So Close to Me", "Every Breath You Take", and "King of Pain," helped establish his reputation as a sophisticated craftsman; however, it is in his solo career that he has truly come into his own as a songwriter, and several of his solo works, including "Fragile," "All This Time," "Fields of Gold," "Desert Rose," and "Moon Over Bourbon Street," are modern classics. Aside from his commercial success, Sting is also interesting for the use of recurring themes in his lyrics (such as family relationships, love, war, spirituality, and work) and for his use of jazz and world music to illustrate or work against the "meaning" of a song. Sting's life also sheds a fascinating light on his music, as his working-class roots in Newcastle, England are never far behind his international superstardom. Throughout his life, he has been musically open-minded and inquisitive, always seeking out new styles and often incorporating them into his compositions. After analyzing Sting's musical output album by album and song by song, author Christopher Gable sums up Sting's accomplishments and places him on the continuum of influential singer-songwriters, showing how he differs from and relates to other artists of the same period. A discography, filmography, and bibliography conclude the work.
Table of Contents:
  • Acknowledgements
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • Chapter One: The Police
  • Chapter Two: Synchronicity to Superstardom
  • Chapter Three: Going Solo
  • Chapter Four: Mother and Father
  • Chapter Five: Return
  • Chapter Six: Hope and Terror
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Discography
  • Filmography
LC Card Number: 2008037530
LCC Class: ML420
Dewey Class: 782
PDF Catalogs:
All rights reserved. Copyright © 1999-2008 Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc.
88 Post Road West, Westport CT 06881, (203) 226-3571