The musician Sting called pure joy to listen to: “The spirit of optimism”
Music has always been meant as an extension of one’s heart. No matter how many times songwriters try to pinpoint the exact middle of the road whenever they work with an artist, it takes a master’s touch to create a song that resonates with people all around the world and speaks to them as a person rather than a random consumer. Although Sting had gone past the realm of pop songwriting after The Police, he still understood emotional music when he drafted Stevie Wonder to work on his song ‘Brand New Day’.
Though Sting had already been chipping away at his songwriting since the mid-1970s, the amount of growth he had after he broke up the power trio was like night and day. It was clear that everyone was growing apart in the group, but seeing him go from pure pop to jazz and even fusion moments on Dream of the Blue Turtles was a switch-up that no one could have anticipated.
Mr Gordon Sumner was clearly an artist to contend with, but other records like Ten Summoner’s Tales were even stranger. Outside of the iconic singles that he would release, like ‘Fields of Gold’, Sting was moving into adult contemporary territory, complete with a pillowy approach to his voice and none of the screaming heard on Police records.
But just because something’s different doesn’t make it bad, and Brand New Day was an excuse for him to dip his toes back into the familiar pop format. Regardless of the number of lavish arrangements, you can still hear the kid that made tracks like ‘Every Breath You Take’ inside this record, but he was going to be competing for second best with Wonder on the track.
Looking at any guest feature that he’s made, though, Wonder almost unintentionally wipes the floor with whoever he works with. ‘Just Good Friends’ by Michael Jackson would have most likely never worked with Wonder behind him, and for as sugary as it has been for decades, ‘Ebony and Ivory’ at least has a hint of soul because of Wonder being on the tune.
Although his role here was relegated to just his harmonica, Sting felt that there was nothing that warmed his heart better than hearing Wonder in his element, saying, “As a song, ‘Brand New Day’ captured the spirit of optimism that is so important to me, and if you can think of a more hopeful manifestation of joy than Stevie Wonder’s harmonica, then be my guest.”
And it’s not like Sting is necessarily wrong. Wonder could be a virtuoso no matter what instrument was put in his hands, and even with his mouth harp beside him, he goes beyond the typical jailhouse lines and puts in the same soul that you’d expect out of one of his bass breaks or what he might have written for a horn section.
In fact, it might work a bit too well in this case since Sting’s tamer voice on the track is no match for the sheer jubilation that’s coming out of Wonder’s mouth during a handful of breaks. While Brand New Day does mark a period of lower relevance for Sting, I defy you to find anyone listening to the moment Wonder comes in without a big goofy smile on their face.
