Ray D’Arcy was joined in studio by Sting - he’s in Dublin premiering the play The Last Ship, for which he wrote the music and lyrics.
And it is a play, not a musical, he says.
"Musicals are mainly, you know, a cartoon or a fairy story. This is about real people and it’s not a jukebox musical at all. It’s a play."
Sting grew up in Wallsend, a ship-building town that was so dominated by the large ships being constructed there that local residents received compensation to pay for lighting because the ships blocked out the sun. Sting told Ray that when a ship was completed and moved out, locals would be "praying for another order so people could go to work". Sting’s work ethic seems to be a common thread in his projects.
"Your work is your identity. It’s your self-esteem. It’s your dignity. Work is important."
As it turns out, Sting’s work is not only important to him. Ray told him that he used to "jump around" to Outlandos d’Amour as a teenager. Sting quipped:
"So did I. I did it for a living."
Ray remarked that going from post-punk to playwright is a bit of a change. Is he getting mellow as gets older?
"I‘m 66 now. I‘m supposed to be wiser and older and better."
The Police have a back catalogue of fan favourites. According to Sting, there’s still something enjoyable about performing the older tracks.
"It’s my job to sing a song like Roxanne, a song I may have written 40 years ago, as if I’d just written it this afternoon. With the same passion, the same intensity, the same curiosity…I always find something in it that keeps my interest in it."
Sting took Ray through the process of writing Roxanne in Paris while sharing a hotel with many "belles de nuits" (‘ladies of the night’). The result, a song about "jealousy and ownership" but "not morality". He told Ray that he wrote Don’t Stand So Close To Me while living in Roundstone, Connemara. Sting himself used to be a teacher.
"Not a biographical story, I assure everybody."
Ray and Sting talked about the song Invisible Sun, which detailed the conflict in Northern Ireland. Sting’s first wife was from the Falls Road.
"Being an English Catholic, you see both sides of the argument and I just wanted to write a song of hope… I hope we’re out of that. I think Brexit might complicate things a bit."
Brexit is more than a passing worry for him, he told Ray.
"I think it’s a disaster. I think no-one knows what the hell to do with it… I’m not in favour of Brexit at all. I feel like a European and I think the true consequences of Brexit will come to roost, you know. Maybe I’ll get an Irish passport."
There was a huge listener response to Sting, with many people sharing stories of occasions they met Sting or times his music was present during big moments in their lives. Mary, however, was more succinct, remarking: "Sting is still hot". Music to his ears.
"It’s all been worth it. Thanks, Mary."
