Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

Mad About You -- Gordon Matthew 'Sting' Sumner

       
(Poem #287) Mad About You
A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you, I'm lost without you

    Though all my kingdoms turn to sand and fall into the sea
    I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you

And from the dark secluded valleys
I heard the ancient songs of sadness
But every step I thought of you
Every footstep only you
Every star a grain of sand
The leavings of a dried up ocean
Tell me, how much longer,
How much longer?

They say a city in the desert lies
The vanity of an ancient king
But the city lies in broken pieces
Where the wind howls and the vultures sing
These are the works of man
This is the sum of our ambition
It would make a prison of my life
If you became another's wife

    With every prison blown to dust, my enemies walk free
    I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you

And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominions over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories
Without love

A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you, I'm lost without you

    And though you hold the keys to ruin of everything I see
    With every prison blown to dust, my enemies walk free
    Though all my kingdoms turn to sand and fall into the sea
    I'm mad about you, I'm mad about you.
-- Gordon Matthew 'Sting' Sumner
As I pointed out the last time I did a Sting piece, it's difficult (and indeed,
unfair) to judge musical lyrics using the same yardstick as for 'ordinary'
poetry. For one thing, songwriters operate under far stricter constraints than
even the most metrical of poets, because they have to fit their words to the
'mood' [1] of the accompanying music; at the same time, when their lyrics are
reproduced on the printed page, they lose the wealth of detail and emotional
content provided by performance. It's a no-win situation.

Having said that, there are still a few lyricists who stand out. Dylan, Cohen,
Springsteen and Simon are the obvious examples, but I have a soft corner for the
troika of Joni Mitchell, Carole King and Suzanne Vega. And I like Sting.

As far 'Mad About You' goes... well, I suggest you read the poem, then try to
get a hold of the album ('The Soul Cages, 1991) and give it a listen. Then
reread the poem. The difference will stagger you.

thomas.

[1] An undefined and undefinable term, if ever I saw one.

[Minstrels Links]

I've done Sting before, the densely textured 'Soul Cages', at poem #114

Other musicians to have featured on this list include Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen
and of course Bob Dylan; you can read their work (and much much more) at the
Minstrels website, http://www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/

[Random Meanderings]

Have you ever wondered how we select our poems, gentle reader? Scroll down...

Yesterday's would-be Ozymandias was what reminded me of this poem; Sting's
        'They say a city in the desert lies
        The vanity of an ancient king'
resonates both with Shelley's famous
                'Round the decay
        Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
        The lone and level sands stretch far away.
and with Horace Smith's somewhat less accomplished
                'The city's gone!
        Naught but the leg remaining to disclose
        The sight of that forgotten Babylon.'

By a happy coincidence, 'a stone's throw from Jerusalem' fits in nicely with a
poem I'm going to run next week (a poem which I've been planning to do for some
time now - you'll see why when I run it). That poem in turn is part of a
Christmas / New Year's theme which will inform my choices in the days to come.

Yes, I have a convoluted mind :-).

62 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Sitaram Iyer said...

Thus, Abraham Thomas wrote...
> As far 'Mad About You' goes... well, I suggest you read the poem, then try
> to get a hold of the album ('The Soul Cages, 1991) and give it a listen.
> Then reread the poem. The difference will stagger you.

so located and downloaded the mp3 at an unearthly hour of half past five
(rather hard to find and broken halfway at that, unfortunately):

remove all spaces from
ftp : / / 194.134.144.64/mp3/sting__mad_about_you . m p 3
(so I don't get sued for putting up such things on my webpage!)

personally: liked the poem a whole lot on the first read, then heard the
song, muttered a quiet bigdeal under the breath, and reread the poem to
pretty much no diff.

oh well. maybe I expected too much of a stagger.

Sitaram Iyer said...

> (rather hard to find and broken halfway at that, unfortunately):

actually its complete enough. my bad.

Kathy Ranelli said...

I had never heard this song before until I heard Sting sing it in
Italian
with Pavarotti - The Italian isn't an exact translation, rather than
"Mad
about you" it says "I die for you" - ah, those passionate Italians - I
like
it best.
Here are the English words with the Italian translation done by
Zucchero
Fornaciari.

A un passo da Gerusalemme
A stone's throw from Jerusalem

E a un solo un miglio dalla luna
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight

Sotto un cielo di milioni di stelle
Above a million stars were shinning

Ho il cuore perso in un pianeta lontano
My heart was lost on a distant planet

Che gira intorno e cade gui'
The world's around the April Moon

Con archi di tristezza,
Whirling in an arc of sadness

Io muoio per te, muoio per te!
I die for you, I die for you

E se il mio regno diventa sabbia
And if my kingdoms become sand

E cade in fondo al mare:
and fall bottom to the sea

Io muoio per te, (io) muoio per te!
I die for you, I die for you

E dalla fonde oscure valli
And from the dark, secluded valleys

Canzoni antiche di tristezza
I heard the ancient songs of sadness,

Mo ogni passo io pensavo a te
But every step I thought you

Ogni passo solo te
every step only you

Per ogni stella un granello di sabbia
Every star a grain of sand,

Gli avanzi di un asciutto mare
The leavings of a dried up ocean

Dimmi, quanto tempo, quanto ancora!
Tell me how much longer, how much longer!

C'e' una citta nel deserto e riposa
The say a City in the desert lies,

La vanita di un antico re
The vanity of an ancient king

Ma la citta riposa in pezzi,
But the city lies in broken pieces.

Dove il vento urla all'avvoltoio
Where the wind howls and the vulture sings,

Quello che ha fatto l'uomo
These are the works of man

Con l'ambizione, e tutto questo
This is the sum of our ambition

Faro prigione la mia vita
It would make a prison of my life

Se sei la sposa per un altro
If you to became another's wife

Ogni prigione in polvere
with every prison blown to dust,

Che i miei nemici siano liberi,
My enemies walk free

Io cado e sono qui,
i am fallen

Che muoio per te, muoio per te!
So that I die for you, I die for you !

E solo come mai,
Cosi solo come ora mai!

I've never felt more alone in my life

Con tutti i miei domini
Although I claim dominion over all i see

Cosa sono qui
It means nothing to me

Sono niente cosi
There is nothing,

Non ci son vittorie
Ther are no victories, in

Nelle nostre storie, senza amor!
All our histories, without Love!

A un passo da Gerusalemme
I passed through from Jerusalem

E a un solo un miglio dalla luna
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight

Sotto un cielo di milioni di stelle
Above a million stars were shinning

Ho il cuore perso in un pianeta lontano
My heart was lost on a distant planet

Che gira intorno e cade gui'
The world's around the April Moon

Con archi di tristezza,
Whirling in an arc of sadness

Io muoio per te, muoio per te!
I die for you, I die for you !

E anche se hai le chiavi
And though you hold the keys

E distruggi quel che ho
To ruin of everything I see,

Ogni prigione in polvere
every prison into dust,

Nemici piu non ho
My enemies go free¸

i regni miei di sabbia mare,
tough all my kingdoms turn to sand
and fall into the sea,

Io muoio per te, muoio per te!
I die for you, I die for you!

lowongan kerja said...

I get a lot of referrals from this site.
I also wrote in a blog: lowongan kerja 2013, lowongan kerja terbaru and info lowongan kerja.

busana muslimah said...

terima kasih webnya udah lama banget buatnya... hhehehhe

control cellulite exercise said...

So be it. Cellulite no more. Forever more.

hp android berkualitas said...

I am very enjoyed for this blog. Its an informative topic. It help me very much to solve some problems. Its opportunity are so fantastic and working style so speedy. I think it may be help all of you. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

A person essentially help to make critically articles I might state.
This is the first time I frequented your web page and so far?
I amazed with the analysis you made to create this actual put up
extraordinary. Excellent process!

my webpage: Cheap Nike Air Max Trainers

Unknown said...

JSolusi yang tepat untuk mengobati penyakit wasir tanpa harus operasi, menggunakan obat wasir  Paling ampuh dari De Nature dan terbaik ada hanya di http://obatwasirme.blogspot.com untuk mendapatkan informasi yang lebih jelas mengenai pengobatan wasir silahkan kontak langsung di nomer 0852 808 77 999 atau 0859 7373 5656 Bagaimana mengobati Ambeien itu sendiri. pengobatan yang terbaik untuk Ambeien adalah dari luar dan dalam sehingga Ambeien benar benar tuntas dan tidak akan kambuh lagi. obat Ambeien terbaik "Ambeclear dari De Nature" Adalah obat Ambeien herbal yang memang terbaik untuk mengobati Ambeien, dan sudah terdaftar di badan obat dan makanan (BPOM) dengan nomer registrasi POM TR: 133 374 041. terbuat dari bahan alami antara lain terdiri Daung Ungu, Mahkota Dewa dan Kunyit Putih.

zarena cantik said...

perfect perfect fried rice, good post for the beginners as well..Super Prema, loved the presentation very much
Selaput Dara Buatan
Vimax asli Canada
Obat Perangsang
viagra usa
Bio Slim Herbal
Boneka Full Body
vimax canada

jogos de friv said...

It’s the little changes that make the largest changes.
----
i like play game click jogos online free and play game juegos pou

Unknown said...


tty sure hell have a good read. Thank yo
erry (three,200). Apartemen Murah Di Jakarta | pemutih wajah | Baju Wanita Murah | Rumah Dijual Bsd

Post a Comment