The Dream of the Blue Turtles (A&M) - Sting (CD 1990)

Three years after The Police had sung their swan song - the delightful Synchronicity - Sting released the album most people referred to as his solo debut . The first single off The Dream of the Blue Turtles immediately became a huge hit you must have heard it - If You Love Somebody Set Them Free . The success of the album was inevitable, as also The Police fans (most of them) joined the growing army of Sting s admirers. The ex-policeman took off here and delivered 5 more studio, 3 live and 1 compilation album, remaining a rare phenomenon of success up to the present days. Somewhere this year his 7th studio album is due to be released and another world tour is about to follow.

But of course it s not here that his story really begins. It actually began with The Police, whose alternative rock shaped the beginning of the 80s, when there was no rock band more popular than they - playing one sold-out show after another. Synchronicity elevated them on the top of the world ( Every Breath You Take was only one brilliant song from that album), and surely no-one expected them to leave when when they actually had just started. Still that was what they did, so the fans of alternative rock went to fill Genesis stadiums instead, who under Phil Collins s leadership were to become arena pleasers in mid- and second half of the 80s. Sting took a brake, then gathered a band. To play well, to play a slightly different kind of music.



What you should or need to know about Sting s The Dream of the Blue Turtles , before you even consider giving it a listen? What you might or might not like about it? Well, there are those hits If You Love Somebody Set Them Free , Love is the Seventh Wave , Russians , Moon over Bourbon Street and Fortress Around Your Heart . Except maybe Russians these are easy and entertaining songs, but that s not the impression the album leaves. This work is a must-have for Sting fans, as to the rest it really depends.

Sting has attempted to combine entertaining and serious themes: there also are songs about war, social injustice, personal crisis and coping with it here. We can put it this way - if a witty album provoking to think about life in general and its different aspects played by a wonderful band masterfully entertaining with music blending styles from art-rock to jazz to the Russian composer Prokofiev s classical theme is what you would like to hear and give time to grow on you (a couple of listens might be necessary) - then The Dream of the Blue Turtles will be an excellent purchase. If not well



Before we take a look at the songs, a couple of words about the band and the main contributors to this delightful musical experience might be necessary:

Sting: vocals, guitar
Kenny Kirlkland: keyboards
Darryl Jones: bass guitar
Branford Marsalis: saxophones and miscellaneous percussion
Omar Hakim: drums
Sergei Prokofiev: the theme in Russians
William Shakespeare: three lines in Consider me Gone
Moon Over Bourbon Street inspired by Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice

All songs written by Sting




Free, free set em free

IF YOU LOVE SOMEBODY SET THEM FREE is the best known song from this album. A fast rocker, it may be addressed to Sting s ex-bandmates from The Police, to the fans of the group, or to all lovers in the world. It s really infectious.


LOVE IS THE SEVENTH WAVE is a much deeper song than it may seem at first. A kind of Jamaican tune, the melody is much relaxed and sure would be good to dance to. But in fact Sting even manages to give some lines about war here, all with a purpose to show how love may overcome it, just like a wave breaking on the shore. In the end, when the song fades, he sings some lines you might recognize


Every ripple on the ocean, every leaf on every tree
Every sand dune in the desert, every breath you take with me
Every breath you take, every move you make
Every cake you bake, every leg you break (break! - aww)



RUSSIANS has that Sergei Prokofiev theme and Sting was bold enough to chose it another single. The result is a classic - one of the '80s best songs to me!

Mr. Reagan says we will protect you
I don't subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too


CHILDREN S CRUSADE begins with a keyboard solo, then the band joins in. In the chorus parts ( the children of England would never be slaves ) Branford Marsalis plays saxophone, which actually sounds more like a trumpet calling the soldiers. But the best thing about the song is the verse - hauntingly beautiful, unforgettable.

Corpulent generals, safe behind lines
History s lessons drowned in red wine

In ironical way this song seems topical today once again. Sting would write an even more touching song about the harm of war for his next studio album Nothing Like the Sun - They Dance Alone . And, of course, then there was Fragile .


SHADOWS IN THE RAIN is a Police song or a cover of one, if I m not mistaken. In any case, this rocker is pretty close to if not exactly what the band would write 5 years before The Dream of the Blue Turtles was released. The band really does have fun on this one and the album turns to its introspective part.


WE WORK THE BLACK SEAM however is one social song - about people losing their job. A slow tune, it grows on you in time. The story s simple: the Rising Sun pit was as close to Sting s home in Northumberland, as was the Swan Hunters shipyard. You ll find out more about the latter on Soul Cages , Sting s third studio album.

We walk through ancient forest lands
And light a thousand cities with our hands


CONSIDER ME GONE is another enjoyable slow song: this time about love lost. The beat, the bass, a couple of gentle touches from Sting s guitar - and the band plays in the mood! Oh, and three lines from Shakespeare are here.

To look for perfection is all very well
But look for heaven is to live here in hell


THE DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLES is an instrumental, played by Kenny Kirlkland on keyboards. It s amazing! And you ll smile guaranteed. It s impossible not to.


MOON OVER BOURBON STREET is a jazzy song about a vampire who s hopelessly in love. It s also about every beast, who loves a beauty. I love this song.


She walks every day
Through the streets of New Orleans
She s innocent and young
From a family of means
I have stood many times outside her window at night
To struggle with my instinct in the pale moonlight

How could I be this way, when I pray to God above
I must love what I destroy and destroy the thing I love!!

Oh you ll never see my shade
Or hear the sound of my feet
When there s a moon
over Bourbon street


FORTRESS AROUND YOUR HEART is like If I Ever Lose My Faith In You or After the Rain Has Fallen - it s a rocker, but you can immediately tell it is Sting who wrote this song. Again, the tracks are lost somewhere in the period of The Police genius. There were such songs before this album, and there will be more on Sting albums that will follow. What doesn t make this one less enjoyable.



So, just to sum it up - a wonderful turning point in Sting s career, The Dream of the blue Turtles is a delightful and clever musical experience. I sincerely recommend you to check this one out.


Great Music to Play While: Wondering why is there red sky, and why is there blue sky