(Credits: Far Out / YouTube Still)
No amount of fame and attention an artist receives can ever make up for their skills as a songwriter. It’s nice to keep in touch with everything that’s going on in the world, but the reason why people can relate to someone with a guitar in their hands is because of their ability to tell a story or take their listeners on a journey purely through sound. And while Elton John has built up the kind of musical experiences that most can only hope to achieve, he knew that he was far from the only legend out there.
Then again, John’s role has always been about providing the perfect backdrop for Bernie Taupin’s words. Throughout their time together, John has always been able to internalise the lyrics perfectly every time they’re presented to him, usually coming up with the kind of swirling accompaniment that leaves people dumbstruck when they’re finished on tunes like ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and ‘Rocketman’.
But part of John’s genius is the fact that he knows exactly what he’s doing with every chord he hits. He always understood the meanings of music theory, and going from one album to another, it’s easy to see his musical arrangements fitting just as well in a Broadway show as they would be on a rock and roll record. He always had a firm handle on the music, but Paul Simon was making the kind of music no one had considered, either.
Both he and John had a deep love of classical music, and looking through both his work with Simon and Garfunkel and his solo material, Simon has always looked to push the envelope. He was strong enough as a writer to fit his tunes into any kind of strange shape, but hearing him delve into everything from African rhythms on Graceland or jazzy textures on Still Crazy After All These Years was enough to grab Sting’s attention.
Although he will forever be known as the frontman for The Police, Sting’s material outside of the rock power trio is far more adventurous. It is a bit disappointing not to hear someone like Stewart Copeland behind the kit, but everything from Ten Summoner’s Tales to The Soul Cages are brilliant explorations into his psyche, whether that’s finding those strange jazz chords no one would have thought of or quoting his own heart in the lyrics.
While John has amassed more than a few classic pieces throughout his career, he felt that both Sting and Simon were among the few still flying the flag for great songwriting, saying, “Sting’s a huge fan of Paul Simon. Those are the best contemporary songwriters there are. Their stuff never dates because they’re just great songs. And that’s one thing Sting’s inherited – he’s written timeless songs. That’s really hard to do.”
Both Sting and Simon have found their own lanes as of late, but that doesn’t mean that they haven’t stopped exploring, either. Stranger to Stranger sounds absolutely nothing like what Simon made with his old duo, and even compared to Sting’s early works like Dream of the Blue Turtles, he was never afraid to make something that leaned in different musical directions, like his decision to make an entire album with Shaggy.
Despite being around for decades at a time, both of them never lost that hunger to hear something that no one had ever heard before. It’s one thing to be able to hold people’s attention for one summer, but the reason people stick around for as long as Sting and Simon have is because of their willingness to stay hungry for whatever else music has to offer them.
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