If Blood Will Flow

On this day (Sep 11th), I could not recommend a more poignant video than “All This Time” by Sting (Netflix). The DVD was meant to chronicle a small invite-only concert at his home in Tuscany, with a dress rehearsal Sep 10th and the main show Sep 11th. In the video, you see real-time reactions to the events as they unfolded, and the decision to go ahead with the show later that night, albeit leaving the setlist open. (Wikipedia) Leading up to the production of the show, you see the rehearsal space and you get incredible comments from the musicians involved. Sting is the consummate band leader and loves to give his people a chance to shine – there is so much we can learn from him in this regard. But if you recall my post on my ideal band size of 6 or 7, Sting’s band is sixteen, with multiple keyboards, multiple percussionists, brass, strings – it’s insane. Which leads us to some of my favorite quotes:

He’s got two percussionists, he’s got Jason playing the acoustic piano, Kipper playing the keyboards, and Jeff playing the organ, electric bass and acoustic bass, and guitar. He has all these elements going on at the same time, and it’s working, and it’s very soft, it’s very sensitive. And that was probably the most surprising thing, because on some nights my band is way louder than this and there’s only four guys, and it made me think, hmmm, maybe I better rethink some things when I go home. ~ Christian McBride

and

Songs have to be simple. They can have a subtext that you can find, but you shouldn’t be singing about an issue. You shouldn’t be saying, down with this or down with that, that’s just journalism. Art is something else, something veiled. And I often feel like songwriting is something like putting yourself into a state of receptivity, or to be more cosmic about it, a state of grace where the song can reveal itself to you. And I think you’re lucky if you can be in a beautiful place, because nature is full of stories, full of images. Powerful, healing images. ~ Sting

Ultimately, one of the greatest gifts of this project is the new rendition of the song “Fragile,” developed just days before the concert. Absolutely breath-taking, and hauntingly prescient:

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one Drying in the color 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 how fragile we are How fragile we are how fragile we are