European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 24, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Successful commercially for instance when you were with the police because of All the Success the police had it s easy to assume that those songs were very calculated or aimed at a particular pop audience. But they weren to l am immensely proud of the police s music. I think i have been fairly Lucky in that what has interested me at different times has also coincided with the Public s interest. .1. Don to want to have to underestimate the Public s taste in order to be Able to survive or function. As soon As you. Underestimate your audience they leave you. I prefer to make a mistake the other Way. When you were doing 3 Penny opera you said you were out of ideas for songs. How did you Start finding the ideas for this album i wrote music during that whole period but i did t write any lyrics. I could t think of any subject that i. Wanted to put into a song and that was a Nightmare that. Happens periodically usually right after you be made a record because you tend to be a bit empty. But this had gone on much too Long in this Case. How did you fight that i have sort of Learned to become my own therapist which is helpful because it can save you a lot of Money in this town. So i started asking myself Why i was t writing. Is it because you Don t have anything to say or is it because you Are afraid of saying something once i started to look at that last question i started to find some answers. You be gone through therapy i went through jungian therapy about eight or nine years ago. I was going through a personal crisis. My marriage was falling apart and there were the problems of adjusting to the Success of the police. It lasted about a year until a Learned enough about the symbols to become self sufficient at dealing with some of the issues. I Don t believe in that school of psychology where you have to have your analyst on the phone All the time. A what were you afraid of dealing with a i started to free associate became very apparent after a few Days that the thing that was most on my mind. Was my childhood and my father s death. That s what i had been trying to suppress. I am not the sort of person who demonstrates his emotions terribly easily Lam very English in that regard i tried to Bury myself in my work after my parents died about six months apart in 1987. I did the nothing like the Sun tour then the amnesty International tour then i went around the world trying to build support to save the brazilian rain Forest then 3 Penny opera. I Felt like a Man possessed. I had avoided the grieving process but finally i could t avoid it any longer. I had to Deal with All the repressed feelings and if you look at the first song on the album you can see the process beginning. I m talking about where i was brought up a my House next to a shipyard and the memories of the enormous ships and the River. The album / was basically written in order. Once i got through the first song Island of Sou kit literally poured out. Were you close to your father i think like All men of that generation he did not show his emotions or demonstrate love. It s probably More intense in England than in America. Americans seems to be much More open with their emotion. The English Arent _ the men at least and i am that Way to a certain extent. I was fairly close to my Mother but my father was a Milkman who went to work at 5 every morning and was none All Dav and then he would sleep when he got on. Sting with companion Trudie Styler. But now i can understand where he came from in an historical context. He was an intelligent Man who was t Given any Opportunity to transcend the situation so you can imagine How frustrated he must to have been How angry he was a Symbol to me of the whole Tovin which was always so Bleak. Not much Promise of Opportunity or future. I remember going to the movies and seeing All these people and places in technicolor and wondering. C Why could t our life be like that Quot did the relationship Ever improve we never really got the Chance. Like every kid you. Grow up and you reject what your , and them and everything they stood for. You go away and have your own life and then slowly you come around in a Circle. I was noticing a lot of similarities Between myself and my father. I was getting older and i was a father myself. I could look at myself and see a lot of him in me. I was coming around to understanding him i believe and ready to make that journey Back and talk but then he died. It was suddenly too late. That was really at the Core of my grief. I never had the Chance to make that journey Back. So this record is a musical Way of making that journey. Dealing with the deaths helped me understand More about myself. What did you learn i Learned that it was time to Stop running. On his deathbed i had my father s hand in mine and his hand was exactly the same As mine. These big sort of Milkman s hands with gnarly Knuckles. And i said Quot look we have the same and he said Quot a but . Yours to better and that s the Only compliment he Ever paid me. It shocked me so much. It made me realize How much we missed. How we might have been Able to know East other better if we had the time. I do have with my children and i want to take advantage of it. I have already lost part of our time. My family can travel at the moment but there will be a period when they won t be Able to travel. They ii have to stay in school and i la have to Deal with it. I m still a Gypsy. I never unpack but i used to always have to travel alone. I would come to new York and be on Niy own a live like a Bachelor. Suffer alone. Did you believe that artists have to suffer to make great Art of sure. Had this mythological idea that real creativity came from pain and loneliness. How could you write a song if you were domestically Happy so you would / manufacture situations where you weren t domes a ally Happy. The blueprint Tor that kind of life is very dear. Look at All the people who have burned themselves at the slake it their . In some Way the Media even enc mirages you to become a Vit Imi. Manlyn Monroe John. A Belushi in Morrison archetypes -1 Don t want to he that. Madonna says something very Clever Quot Marilyn Monroe was a victim i m i m not either. I no we have to destroy ourselves to make Good Ait the album seems to attack k religion in several ways. Do you still consider yourself a Catholic a i was brought up a Catholic and i Don t regret Tiro Jesuit education and the sense erf symbolism. S the. Guilt the blood the death. All that is Good for an artist actually. But i Don t embrace catholicism today. In fact i am against a lot of it. ,Tor instance. It s ludicrous in this world that you can t have birth control. I also object very strongly to Tho idea that Man enjoys a higher place on this planet. If god exists he exists in everything. As soon As god is outside of nature it is no longer a sin to destroy nature and to to that is one of the greatest sins. A a a a. You turn 40 this year a is that going to be traumatic not at All. I want to have a big party when i m 40. Maybe do a gig with ui340 As the opening act so that Tiro a a marquee can say "ub4.q and in 40. A lot of Rock artists have had a hard time making the transition from teen hero to adult artist. Mick Jagger is still battling with that. Why were you Able to make the transition so easily. It s partly a matter of timing. You be got to make the move soon enough a before people Label you. I did t leave the police for that reason but the timing probably helped me. I have always hoped to confuse people and confound Peon re so that they can t put a Label on me. That s one reason hike to do different things. Go in what looks like wide shifts of direction. That s not the reason to do say j Penny opera but it is a Bonus. People Don t know what to expect from to. I m sure a lot of people would have thought ibis Alburn would be about ecology because i have been so identified with the rain Forest Lor instance. A a so focusing the album on the environment would have been a mistake it would have Boon a terrible mistake because it would have confirmed a people s expectations and i Don t want to do that. I want people to ire constantly surprised by what i do and i want to be surprised As Well. Besides to did t have1 anything to say about cd ology As an artist at the. Moment As much As i am committed to those issues i Don t want to just write slogans. A. Do you plan to retain a High profile on social causes i have mixed feelings. There is a tendency when celebrities get involved with causes that some people think there is some Miracle cure is at hand. That with just a few million dollars everything can be solved. Them they Don t understand when tire problems Don t go away. Of the other hand i think All the publicity around the rain Forest did help. When this Campaign began three years ago the1 area of Brazil that was burning was the size1 of croat Britain it s less now largely because the brazilian government fori de to Stop giving subsidies to the1 Large land owners. Bui their is still so much work to be. Done. A the key line for me in the album is Quot men go c Razy in congregations a but they Only get better one by Onei Don t believe m Dogma be it religion or politic Al. Peo Jde do have1 to work <get.her, but change bus to Cut in the. Human heart. q c on soy Quot i in u i 5 i i Lour go Sis. A a a Ujj Maury 24, v l stripes Onufri Iri 7
