"We share the same biology, regardless of ideology. What might save us, me and you, is if the Russians love their children too." (Russians, 1985.)
I'm not buying Dream of the Blue Turtles today but I've been playing the album a lot since Russian forces started surrounding Ukraine last Fall. The military strategies, the rhetoric, the frantic diplomatic efforts, the threat. It all reminded me of when Reagan and Gorbachev and Thatcher were part of our daily kitchen table conversations and permeated the smog of uncertainty which I walked through during my childhood; raised in a household where I was included in all political conversations during a time of significant geopolitical tension.
DOTBT is my favorite Sting album. My father got it for me for my birthday in 1985 and when something was said on the news or words were spoken by my adult relatives that I didn't quite understand, like glasnost and perestroika, and INF treaty, I'd play the song "Russians" for some comfort. We didn't have the internet to quickly reference current events. We also only had three television channels. It's not the most uplifting tune, but it does offer a little resistance-type hope. Resistance-type hope might be all we have some days.
I still have and cherish my original copy of DOTBT and I humbly suggest you buy one if you don't. There's some fantastic music on there.
This morning as I listened, I mused, 'Wouldn't it be interesting if STING remade his song, "Russians" today, appropriate for 2022, sold it for 99 cents a download and gave the money to legitimate Ukrainian charities?'
I'd download the hell out of that.
Just a thought.
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