Sting — The Book Of My Life (Feat. Anoushka Shankar)
Album: Sacred LoveAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 579
Length: 6:07
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Let me watch by the fire and remember my days
And it may be a trick of the firelight
But the flickering pages that trouble my sight
Is a book I'm afraid to write
It's the book of my days, it's the book of my life
And it's cut like a fruit on the blade of a knife
And it's all there to see as the section reveals
There's some sorrow in every life
If it reads like a puzzle, a wandering maze
Then I won't understand 'til the end of my days
I'm still forced to remember,
Remember the words of my life
There are promises broken and promises kept
Angry words that were spoken, when I should have wept
There's a chapter of secrets, and words to confess
If I lose everything that I possess
There's a chapter on loss and a ghost who won't die
There's a chapter on love where the ink's never dry
There are sentences served in a prison I built out of lies
Though the pages are numbered
I can't see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no one can read
In the book of my life
There's a chapter on fathers a chapter on sons
There are pages of conflicts that nobody won
And the battles you lost and your bitter defeat
There's a page where we fail to meet
There are tales of good fortune that couldn't be planned
There's a chapter on God that I don't understand
There's a promise of Heaven and Hell but I'm damned if I see
Though the pages are numbered
I can't see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no one can read
In the book of my life
Now the daylight's returning
And if one sentence is true
All these pages are burning
And all that's left is you
Though the pages are numbered
I can't see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no one can read
In the book of my life
And it may be a trick of the firelight
But the flickering pages that trouble my sight
Is a book I'm afraid to write
It's the book of my days, it's the book of my life
And it's cut like a fruit on the blade of a knife
And it's all there to see as the section reveals
There's some sorrow in every life
If it reads like a puzzle, a wandering maze
Then I won't understand 'til the end of my days
I'm still forced to remember,
Remember the words of my life
There are promises broken and promises kept
Angry words that were spoken, when I should have wept
There's a chapter of secrets, and words to confess
If I lose everything that I possess
There's a chapter on loss and a ghost who won't die
There's a chapter on love where the ink's never dry
There are sentences served in a prison I built out of lies
Though the pages are numbered
I can't see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no one can read
In the book of my life
There's a chapter on fathers a chapter on sons
There are pages of conflicts that nobody won
And the battles you lost and your bitter defeat
There's a page where we fail to meet
There are tales of good fortune that couldn't be planned
There's a chapter on God that I don't understand
There's a promise of Heaven and Hell but I'm damned if I see
Though the pages are numbered
I can't see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no one can read
In the book of my life
Now the daylight's returning
And if one sentence is true
All these pages are burning
And all that's left is you
Though the pages are numbered
I can't see where they lead
For the end is a mystery no one can read
In the book of my life
Comments (47)add comment
Has it really taken 14 years to replay this?
And is there any more global awareness now?
In 2020?
sigh.. didn't think so...
And is there any more global awareness now?
In 2020?
sigh.. didn't think so...
Love the Rolf Harris Wobble board
Zzzzz.....
What an exceptional pairing of music, following Eva Cassidy's Fields of Gold!
That was a beautiful--and unique--Sting song. Plus I like how it immediately followed Eva Cassidy's cover of Fields of Gold.
Thanks Bill! You are a master of putting sets together.
reedifus wrote:
concerti
OK, enough with comparing pop musicians to classical composers. STOP! They do not and cannot compare.
It always amuses (and astounds) me when today's recording and performing artists boast about writing a song in 15 minutes, like there's some sort of genious at work. Freakin' heck! YOU'RE STRUMMING CHORDS AND SINGING! That's called going with the moment and making up a tune. You're not composing a symphony.
Here's a little advice to ALL RECORDING ARTISTS. If you write a little diddy in 6 minutes while waiting for your limo, keep it to yourself unless you want to look like a freakin' idiot to anyone with intelligence.
I'm on a tangent, so forgive my rant. I do that.
To add to that, much of the artistry of what we hear on the radio is performed by a sound engineer, who most often is not the artist/song writer themselves.
That said, Sting's taste as a composer (click here) has a uniqueness among his contemporary peers, and for that he should be commended.
First a boring Sting cover and now the real thing!! Please it's not two for tuesday.
Mommy, make the boring man stop!
Nice calm song, but the cover is a bit unsettling. 
God, he looks like such a wanker on that album cover...
Remember when Sting used to rock?
Boy, Sting sure does look scary in that album cover art....
This is one of my favorite songs on the Sacred Love album.
yawnÂ… firm_stool wrote:
When I hear Sting's music I can think of nothing but angry soccer Moms etc etc
That's your problem, not Sting's.
wpalladin wrote:
Incredible! Light-years beyond most!
There's nothing wrong with creating something that sounds like a previous piece.
Does one fault Mozart for all those piano concerto?
concerti
OK, enough with comparing pop musicians to classical composers. STOP! They do not and cannot compare.
It always amuses (and astounds) me when today's recording and performing artists boast about writing a song in 15 minutes, like there's some sort of genious at work. Freakin' heck! YOU'RE STRUMMING CHORDS AND SINGING! That's called going with the moment and making up a tune. You're not composing a symphony.
Here's a little advice to ALL RECORDING ARTISTS. If you write a little diddy in 6 minutes while waiting for your limo, keep it to yourself unless you want to look like a freakin' idiot to anyone with intelligence.
I'm on a tangent, so forgive my rant. I do that.
Incredible! Light-years beyond most!
There's nothing wrong with creating something that sounds like a previous piece.
Does one fault Mozart for all those piano concerto?
bluedot wrote:
oh come on.
this ain't as bad as y'all are makin it out to be.
it's kinda growing on me, actually.
if you listen to sting's lyrics, they all express great, idealistic, important sentiments.
nothing wrong with that, imo.
if he wants to do tv commercials, more power to him.
he's getting a bum rap here on rp, for some reason.
:nodhead:
saw sting last nite in san diego. very impressive, as usual. did not do this song, though.
THE LAST ALBUM I ENJOYED FROM STING WAS MERCURY FALLING A VERY MELANCHOLIC WORK, WITH MULTIPLE INFLUENCES...AGE CAN REALLY AFFECT SOME PEOPLE , I HOPE THIS IS JUST A FADING PHASE AND CREATIVITY WILL RETURN
sergeant_x wrote:
Sting and Dave Matthews should do a benefit concert in Fallujah.
It's four weeks since you posted this comment and, sadly, little has changed for Fallujah or Sting. Please George.....send Sting to stupify 'em.
Chunk wrote:
Cookie-cutter Sting pop drivel. Please Sting, just sing Roxanne and Every Little Thing covers for the rest of your career. You are NOT a good songwriter.
Well, he DID write the two songs you mentioned..... so he must not be that bad of a songwriter, right?
Sting has been getting bashed on here because of his latest album. It's a shame..... while this by far isn't his best, many of his other albums are quite good.
Sting and Dave Matthews should do a benefit concert in Fallujah.
Cookie-cutter Sting pop drivel. Please Sting, just sing Roxanne and Every Little Thing covers for the rest of your career. You are NOT a good songwriter.
And this is different from every one of his other post-Police songs how?
Zeke19 wrote:
Boiled down to its essence, this is nothing more than Michael Bolton with bongos and a sitar in the background.
I was coming here to make some smart-assed remark about Sting, but I can't do it any better than this. My thoughts exactly. :)
Boiled down to its essence, this is nothing more than Michael Bolton with bongos and a sitar in the background.
oh come on.
this ain't as bad as y'all are makin it out to be.
it's kinda growing on me, actually.
if you listen to sting's lyrics, they all express great, idealistic, important sentiments.
nothing wrong with that, imo.
if he wants to do tv commercials, more power to him.
he's getting a bum rap here on rp, for some reason.
firm_stool wrote:
When I hear Sting's music I can think of nothing but angry soccer Moms and psedo intellectualls pretending to be deep and important in their Gap uniforms at the local Starbucks.
Sting, for shame, the police rocked so hard!!
I feel the same way. I really liked the early solo work, but the new stuff feels to me like an attempt to use his stature to show how "deep" he is. Funny that the "deeper" he gets, the more endorsement money he makes.
sting needs to become a record producer or something... these albums he inflicts upon the world are just plain horrid. Hes done some decent solo projects, but every subsequent album after he left the police has felt more and more manufactured.
I also loved the Police, but this is a mature man who sings from his heart. One may argue about where his heart is, but not that his art beats with it. Nice to hear one of Ravi's other daughters...
When I hear Sting's music I can think of nothing but angry soccer Moms and psedo intellectualls pretending to be deep and important in their Gap uniforms at the local Starbucks.
Sting, for shame, the police rocked so hard!!
I can't hear his voice in all those solo-ballads anymore. Been overplayed for me.
Still enjoy his old fast tunes with The Police, but not his solo-stuff.
nice timing. perfect mood for the dying light following an early winter sunset.
elenaYAY wrote:
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
ditto
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....
BORING 
Very good to hear Sting. Polished and nuanced as usual. I'd like to hear songs from the CD he recorded with Gil Evans a bit more often. I think the presence of a legend like Evans pushed Sting beyond his comfort zone.
philarktos wrote:
Enlightened confidence, with full insight into ego, can strike some as arrogance. Seems a nice guy to me.
Pretentioua crap! Someone should close this book!
solitary78 wrote:
I want to dislike this for the slow re-write of "Desert Rose" that it seems to be, but I can't.
I will always love Sting, and wish for that Police reunion to save him from his ego.
I just read in the current Men's Journal Sting's article about his trip to the Mustang region of Nepal with his son and some friends . It's a great read, and there was no evidence of the aforementioned ego. I highly recommend it.
solitary78 wrote:
I want to dislike this for the slow re-write of "Desert Rose" that it seems to be, but I can't.
I will always love Sting, and wish for that Police reunion to save him from his ego.
This is not a rewrite of 'Desert Rose', but rather one of the other songs off of "Brand New Day" But Sting has, time and again, recycled hooks and melodies, and rhythms. Oh well, it mostly works for him...
Seems like he's returned to the qualities and themes prominent on Ten Summoner's Tales, the last album by him I thought worth owning. I've liked many of the new tracks getting play here. It's not young and rough, it's not rockin', it's not...well, hell, it's not a lot of things people here tend to cheer for, but there's plenty of room for some quieter, jazzier, more contemplative stuff around here, no?
solitary78 wrote:
I want to dislike this for the slow re-write of "Desert Rose" that it seems to be, but I can't.
I will always love Sting, and wish for that Police reunion to save him from his ego.
Enlightened confidence, with full insight into ego, can strike some as arrogance. The proof of the pudding would lie in how he treats
others in ways that don't make up the tabloid personna. Guess you'd have to talk to his kids, musicians, or assistants. Seems a nice guy to me.
Glad Bill is playing more of this new album. This is a great cut. Beautiful intelligent heartfelt lyric which I want to read, cause there were bits that got lost in the mix.
I want to dislike this for the slow re-write of "Desert Rose" that it seems to be, but I can't.
I will always love Sting, and wish for that Police reunion to save him from his ego.
Glad Bill is playing more of this new album. This is a great cut. Beautiful intelligent heartfelt lyric which I want to read, cause there were bits that got lost in the mix.
At a glance I said to myself, twenty years ago, when Sting was still making relevant music and 104.1 WBCN,The Rock Of Boston, was still playing rock. Then I thought, damn, twenty years ago! Agree with your remarks on the song.