King of Pain

The weathered fellow above is one Gordon Sumner, a.k.a. Sting, born this day 1951 in Wallsend, England. He is the second hero on this list that I have seen in person, granted it was from the nosebleed section, but it still counts. I managed to see him and the reunited Police in New Orleans a couple of years ago, and was suitably impressed. It is his work with the Police that I am the biggest fan of. Anyone who can write some of the 3 minute pop songs he wrote, and still deliver the message he does is a hero to me. Probably his most well-known song is "Every Breathe you Take." A stalker song that for a lot of people is mistaken as a love song, but my personal favourite is "King of Pain." Quite simply as close to perfect as a song can get. Minimalistic on the music, and verses that make goosebumps appear on your arms. Anyone that can somehow work in Scylla and Charybdis into a song, is a fucking genius in my book. In fact, for years I have been in my more drunken moments been caught trying to rewrite the song as the "King of Spain." Not in a weird Al Jankovic way, but in a more serious way, I have not been particularly successful, and will not be quitting my day job anytime soon. I can not say that I agree with all of his activism, and some of the songs that come from it are, in my opinion, just a bit too preachy for my tastes, but at least he seems to honestly give a shit about the planet. For that at least I can applaud, and appreciate him, even if I will steer clear of buying the overly "active" albums he occasionally churns out. I think it speaks to his ability and talent that he has been covered by artists as diverse as Toby Keith and P. Diddy, or whatever his name is today. His one failing is that he is a Newcastle United fan, but I guess that is a bit of an accident of birth, and we no one is perfect. So, for all those times I've stood here before in the pouring rain, and for making every little thing she does be magic, Sting (October 2nd, 1951-present), you are my hero of the day.