::..:: SACRED STING ::..::

:: Inside :: is the wonderful opening track and one of two tracks featuring the drumming of Vinnie Colaiuta.
"It must be that we're afraid of this idea of love. So I began to try and redefine how love was treated in my walk of life. Love is flowers and sunshine and butterflies. So I thought I'd start treating love as if it was a devastating, frightening force... and that was 'Inside'."

:: Send Your Love :: Opening with a flurry of Flamenco guitar courtesy of Vicente Amigo and castanets from Valerie Denys before breaking into a bassline that just makes you want get up and dance.
"Am I religious? In my own way. I say in 'Send Your Love': 'there's no religion but sex and music'. That's a polemic statement. But if you look at it, 'religion' means to reconnect in the Latin. What reconnect us with the world of spirit are two things: sex and music. Generally, this is my church. My idea of a spirit realm is not something outside the cosmos, it is the cosmos."

:: Whenever I say your name :: features the sultry voice of Mary J. Blige and is another track that mixes the themes of religion and love recurring throughout the 'Sacred Love' album. On stage the song was featuring the incredible voice of Joy Rose duelling with Sting.

:: Never Coming Home :: is a sad tale of a broken relationship told from the perspective of both parties. The song features a wonderfully jazzy piano solo from Jason Rebello.

:: Stolen Car :: is an archetypal Sting song about a relationship between three people told with a twist, through a fourth party. The track was released as a single in 2004 and several remixes exist.

:: This war :: written during the build up to the war against Iraq the song asks some searching questions of those that stand to profit from the war.

:: The book of my life :: With Sting having written his autobiography, "Broken Music" (excellent book!) it did not come as a surprise to find that the experience also inspired him to write 'The Book of My Life', arguably the most personal song he has ever written.

:: Sacred Love :: This song returns to the recurring themes of love and religion and intertwines them to such a degree that it seems impossible to separate them: "You're my religion, you're my church / you're the holy grail at the end of my search / have I been down on my knees for long enough? / I've been searching the planet to find sacred love". Driven along with some great drums and percussion by Manu Katche and Rhani the tracks also featuring horn players, Chris Botti and Clark Gayton.