Lyrics [Hardcover]

Sting (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Dial Press (2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847371671
• ISBN-13: 978-1847371676
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 1.1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,315,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing... we want more!, October 31, 2007

By 

jefjam "jefjam" (ocean city, md) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lyrics (Hardcover)

Upon reading this book, i found the explanations and stories behind the songs very interesting. Sting has always been a prolific songwriter... especially during the years following The Police.

I guess I would have enjoyed more/deeper insights. But as a long-time Sting fan, I found this book very enjoyable.

It also serves as a great coffee-table book, since it's easy for guests to pick up & put down (ie- no real plot-line).

To those negative reviewers:

1) Read the actual book

2) Yes Sting is a bit narcissistic, but at least he can back it up. What's your problem?

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book for Sting and Police fans!, December 27, 2007

By 

M J Heilbron Jr. "Dr. Mo" (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lyrics (Hardcover)

I received this book as a Christmas present, and I've already devoured it.

This is a handsomely produced book containing all of Sting's lyrics from the five Police albums, and his solo output up to his last disc, "Sacred Love".

The actual physical construction of the book is gorgeous. The vellum-like wrap, the gentle coloring to the photos and text...it's a pleasure to read.

The book is loosely structured according to each album. He prefaces each album with a page or so of comments and thoughts, and then about 75% of the time makes individual notes for a single song. Not every song gets a comment, but all the "big ones" do.

Being a HUGE Police (and Sting) fan, I knew about half of the stuff he says from previous interviews, but there's a lot of new stuff here, and having it collated in one place is very nice.

I am a poetry hater. I have never understood nor liked poetry, and as you can imagine, reading song lyrics can either come across as decent poetry or puerile gibberish.

As I'm so familiar with these songs, I found it, for the most part, quite pleasurable reading through some of his songs. Most interesting is the progression from his punky-pop beginnings to his literate, complex tales as a solo artist.

For fans, this not only is a no-brainer, it's essential.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still in the Dark, December 22, 2007

By 

Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lyrics (Hardcover)

It is difficult for me to admit this, since I am a big fan of Sting and his work, but this book is a real disappointment.

Granted, I'm happy enough to have it on my shelf. It's nice to have all Sting's lyrics collected in one place. It's interesting to see how I've misinterpreted some things over the years; particularly, some of the harder rocking songs of the early era of The Police, when it was more difficult to make out the words. Still, I was hoping for much more.

The biggest problem, I think, is that there's so little here beyond the lyrics themselves. I guess of was hoping for much more in terms of background, interpretation and self-criticism of the work. That would have made this volume must-have interesting. But most of the songs have nothing extra in the way of commentary by Sting and those that do are little helped by what he does have to say.

For some reason, Sting still wants to cast darkness over his years as a successful musician. His autobiography, Broken Music, is wonderful--insightful and reflective--but he stops his tale as The Police are forming. In this book he once again had an opportunity to shed some light through the lens of his lyrics and he passed it by. Hopefully, someday he'll be willing to settle down and give us his impressions of his life since the late 1970's. For now, his fans will still have to wait.