The Police drummer Stewart Copeland sat down with Rick Beato to discuss his memories with the band and shared why he thinks Sting is a genius. Before revealing his thoughts on Sting’s genius, the drummer revealed one thing: He never really listened to the Police’s lyrics until recently. When Beato asked whether or not he knew any of the Police’s lyrics, Copeland revealed he now does know the lyrics but did not know them until one certain point. He explained:
“I never listened to them [back in] the day, I’m just banging sh*t and all I’m seeing is the back of [Sting’s] head. If I see the front of his head, that’s not a good thing, because he’s usually turning around to yell at me for something. So I prefer the back of his head when we’re at the stage. That means, systems are going, we’re all good. So no, I never listen to the lyrics. But years later, I took some of those songs and orchestrated them, and created a show called ‘Police Deranged For Orchestra,’ where I have The Soul Sisters on the mic singing the lyrics.”
Copeland was highly impressed by the one trait his bandmate Andy Summers had. He continued:
“To organize them and to do the arrangements, I discovered two things: Andy was a motherf*cker with those voicings, the chords. I saw them with their heads together, mumbling F-sharp minor whatever the f*ck they were talking about to each other, (air quoting) ‘musical talk.'”
The drummer was not aware of the talent of Sting until a certain time. He revealed while mentioning Sting’s genius:
“Between the two of those guitar parts have such harmonic complexity, and Andy did do the voicing, which is a big part of it. So, I came to really appreciate Andy’s contribution musically. But also I had my nose rubbed in those lyrics, ‘Oh! That’s what he was singing about. That’s kinda cool. I get it.’ I never really bothered with them at the time but years later I did have to come to the realization. Don’t tell him I said this, but that f*cker’s a genius.”
Copeland Thinks Sting Is ‘Arrogant’ But ‘A Golden Shaft Of Light’
Back then, the musician thought of creating his own band and actively sought out skilled musicians. Specifically, he was in search of a bassist and a vocalist, positions he observed Sting excelling in with Last Exit. Reflecting on the formation of The Police in the late 1970s, Copeland conveyed that he felt incredibly fortunate when he initially encountered Sting. He did not forget to mention his ‘arrogance’ either:
“He is shy and people sometimes mistake it for arrogance or stand-off. He’s not arrogant at all, in fact, quite self-deprecating. But we met and I remembered he can sing and play bass and he has an amp. Those are the three things you need in a bass player. And, oh, there’s that golden shaft of light, too. That’s cool. So I called him from London and said, ‘Yeah, I got this band’. And the first thing I said was that, ‘By the way, this is a conversation about you, not your band.'”
You can watch the interview below.
