Listen to the isolated bass on The Police song ‘Message in the Bottle’
Sting had a lot of duties to fulfil in The Police. As the primary singer and songwriter in the band, Sting had to keep his ear uniquely tuned to the melody. It wasn’t that he lacked rhythm or foundation; it just wasn’t his main focus. Except that it was: he also needed to play bass at the same time.
This mish-mash of responsibilities would often result in Sting gravitating towards sparseness and space in his basslines. Songs like ‘Walking on the Moon’ feature patterns so basic that even rudimentary players can pick them up. When songs like ‘Every Breath You Take’ needed a strong low-end foundation and nothing more, Sting would often stick to root notes to keep the proceedings marching along.
Sting wasn’t a basic musician, he just needed to compartmentalise his focus when recording and performing live. Still, there are plenty of great basslines throughout The Police’s catalogue. Tracks like ‘Voices in My Head’, ‘Masoko Tanga’, and ‘Peanuts’ show off Sting’s more eclectic four-string work, adding in the necessary amounts of colour to spice up his otherwise-paltry bass style.
For a great example of Sting finding the balance between simplicity and sophistication, just look at one of The Police’s best-known songs, ‘Message in a Bottle’. With Andy Summers’ iconic riff and Stewart Copeland’s furious drumming, it’s easy to lose sight of what Sting is doing instrumentally in the song. But once you hear the isolated track, it becomes clear that Sting had a solid feel for groove on the bass.
Since Summers is outlining the song’s chord changes with his lead guitar part, that leaves room for Sting to dance around the root notes and add additional tones. He remains rock solid throughout the song’s verses and pre-chorus, jacking up the energy as they slam into the track’s chorus proper. But since ‘Message in a Bottle’ has such an airy and open chorus, most of the instruments drop out.
That leaves room for Sting to explore the fretboard of his bass. With a syncopated riff that puts his bass firmly in the spotlight, the chorus to ‘Message in a Bottle’ is one of Sting’s crowning achievements on the bass guitar. It’s so good that you might even start thinking about Sting as an underrated bass player.
Check out the isolated bass for ‘Message in a Bottle’ down below.
