In a recent interview with Indulge Express on September 14, Stewart Copeland of The Police shed light on some interesting anecdotes from the band’s early days.
Copeland shared that some of the early songs they experimented with were not the right fit for Sting, who he praised for his intellectual depth both as a musician and lyricist. However, it seems he had recordings of Sting singing these ‘dumb’ songs:
“Some of the songs were too dumb for Sting, who’s very intellectual. And I do have some mercy in my heart; I could not make him sing these dumb songs because he’s so deep. But I do have recordings of him singing. My first hit was ‘Don’t Care,’ [sings the lyrics] ‘I am the coolest thing that ever hit town,’ but it was a hit in England, and I have a recording of him singing. It’s cruel for such a deep talent to be singing that song. The world doesn’t want to hear that.”
After that, Copeland admitted that Sting would occasionally muddle the words while performing some songs that he felt weren’t true to his artistic integrity. He then revealed what made Sting change his perspective and steered The Police towards their sound:
“These were songs that didn’t fit in the Police because they were too goofy. Sting, in the early days, he would sing them but garble the lyrics. There was another song that he wrote where the lyrics were too intellectual, so he would garble the lyrics so that no one would realize how deep he was. Eventually, when Andy joined with his harmonic sophistication, that’s when Sting’s musical ears opened up, and he started to write the songs that are why the Police is what it is.”
In another interview dated June, Copeland described Sting as a Lion King who is not arrogant at all but, in fact, quite self-deprecating.
On August 18, Copeland released ‘Police – Beyond Borders’ in collaboration with Indian musician Ricky Kej. The album features Police songs recreated in global languages. You can listen to the album here.
You can watch the full interview below.
