In retrospect, it was probably foolish of me to assume that there would be more to this than the bass line for āMessage in a Bottleā, isolated.
I know, itās just me. But ever since Iāve been old enough to sing bass, its the first line I hear in any music. Singing 2nd bass with a choir these days, so I was loving this!
Was Sting playing a fretless bass on this track? Yeah, it sounds itā¦ but damn itās precise too.
This confirms my suspicion that heās the third-best instrumentalist in The Police, at least when heās also singing.
Heās baldingā¦spiritually.
I kept thinking something interesting was going to happen. I feel like Iāve been fooled.
āListen to itā is the new ājust look at itā.
Itās just not that interesting a bassline. This, on the other hand, is a work of wonder in a beautifully-crafted pop song. And thereās a very boingboingesque background to look at.
to my untrained ear it did not sound like the bass track isolated, but somebody playing along with the songā¦
Heh, hehā¦when I read the title, I thought: āButās thatās one of the simplest basslines, in all of pop musicā¦right?ā
Rightā¦but what is surprising about this, is how low-fi it sounds, with lots of string and finger noise, compared to the final mix.
This is probably a Live track from off a direct input monitor, meaning it was played sloppy during a loud performance, which didnāt matter much. Sting is a really good musician, and the album work is likely much cleaner and more precise.
Yes, itās simple and repetitive, but it is punk, or at least āpunkā, and he was singing at the same time.
And thereās no arguing with the end result: a catchy popular song.
The stock video for this song shows them in the studio, with Sting playing a fretless bass. So the choice of a still photo of him on stage with a fretted Fender bass is a bit misleading.
This oneās pretty good, too.
John Entwhistleās Isolated Bass for Wonāt Get Fooled Again
I donāt know the song, but that is a pretty instrument!
āSeven Nation Armyā seems to have cribbed a little bit of that bass lineā¦then again, itās not exactly the most original descending melody.
Sorry, but for me the best will always be Flea bringing the funk!
