Sunday, December 22, 2013

A Sting-Along For The Holidays


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Hey, readers! The Broo's "November BHM," Scott Sonnon, found his way to my blogpost and linked it on his facebook page! So lemme take a minute here and pay tribute to another celebrity whose art I've loved and whose actions I've admired my entire adult life. Maybe he'll find his way over to my blog, too.

Hello Sting. Remember me?

Of course, I'm kidding. I just wanted to take a festive moment to share Sting's Christmas album, which isn't very well known among non-hardcore fans. Most everyone on the planet is familiar with at least one of Sting's solo or Police songs, and he has millions of admirers. But, I feel that the music produced by him over the years has particularly mirrored the events in my life and captured my life-experiences in a serendipitous timely manner. Each album he released over the years seemed like a personal musical gift that picked up where the previous soundtrack (of my life) left off. From love gone bad and breakup songs, to political messages and religion. This parallelism continued to the point that soon after my son was born in August 2009, Sting released his first "Christmas" and lullaby album, If On A Winter's Night.  Just like that, out of the blue, after 30+ years, he produced a lullaby album right when my son was born! I once ran into Sting at a club in Beirut after meeting him the night before post-concert. I asked him jokingly, "are you following me around?" He will never know how much I meant it!

I remember being home with my infant son in his first winter of life with this album often playing in the background, and we've enjoyed it every holiday season since. A favorite song on that record is "Soul Cake," which my son also has a fondness of, probably because I used to dance with him in the carrier to it's music when he was my infant soul cake! The album is truly a masterpiece and captures the magical character of the winter season.  The compositions in this record further prove that Sting is not just a popular musician, he is a serious and dedicated  artist with an open heart and a wide-open spirit for the breath of life. If you're tired of the same old Christmas music you have, you might want to add this one to your collection.

I've met Sting on several occasions (though I'm sure he still doesn't know who I am) from concerts in Beirut to fundraisers for Arab-Americans in Washington DC. He is truly a remarkable human being, (but not as remarkable and understanding of my 'Sting thing' as my amazing husband, who some say has a resemblance to the man). But what makes me such a huge fan, is the added admiration I have for him on many other levels aside from his musicianship --yoga, pro-marijuana legalization, anti-war messages, and support for Palestinian kids, for starters.

As I listen to these songs again this year, I want to wish all ye wonderful Broo readers health, happiness, love, peace of mind, and much much soul cake throughout the season!


As for us, we'll be moving to a new place in the new year, so expect the Broo to get a little more quiet until we move into our new hOMe.


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