Desert Rose (Sting song)

In 1998, Sting had listened to one of Cheb Mami{{'s}} albums, which prompted him to see Mami perform live in Bercy with Khaled, Rachid Taha, and Steve Hillage. After his experience at the concert, Sting wrote the instrumentation to "Desert Rose", which later informed the direction of the lyrics.{{Cite magazine |last=Konigson |first=Marc-Emmanuel |date=8 September 1999|title=Sting: The reason for happiness... |url=https://www.sting.com/news/title/Interview:%20MUSIC%20UP!%20(1999) |access-date=9 February 2025 |magazine=Music Up! |via=Sting.com |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230921091637/https://www.sting.com/news/title/Interview:%20MUSIC%20UP!%20(1999) |archive-date=21 September 2023 |url-status=live}} He then asked Mami to improvise some Arabic words over his melody. Mami returned with some lyrics in Arabic script for the song's raï descant, which he developed without knowing what Sting had written for the lyrics. Sting was unable to understand what Mami was singing, so he inquired about the lyrical content. Mami explained that his lyrics were about longing, which also aligned with the lyrics that Sting had created.{{cite magazine |last=White |first=Timothy |date=18 September 1999 |title=Sting's French Sojourn Yields 'Brand New Day' |magazine=Billboard |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1999/BB-1999-09-18.pdf |pages=5, 127–128 |via=World Radio History}}

Sting said that the two sets of lyrics pertained to "the same subject, although not line for line." He further stated that the "I dream of rain/I dream of gardens in the desert sand" lyric related to romantic longing, lustful longing, and longing for a divine deity. Sting referred to the song "an interesting experiment" and noted how the song "dovetails too, almost as if he sings something and I translate it." Dominic Miller, who played guitars on "Desert Rose", said that his contributions to the song amounted to a composite of layered guitar parts that were assembled and rearranged by various producers. He believed that his guitar overdubs were not central to "Desert Rose" and instead described the song as "production driven".{{Cite web |title=Songs and Albums |url=https://dominicmiller.com/songs-and-albums/ |access-date=9 February 2025 |website=dominicmiller.com}}

Upon the song's release as the second single from Brand New Day, radio programmers were initially hesitant to play "Desert Rose".{{Cite news |last=Kot |first=Greg |date=3 October 2003|title=Sting rides again |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/10/03/sting-rides-again/ |access-date=9 February 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241213074750/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2003/10/03/sting-rides-again/ |archive-date=13 December 2024 |language=en-US}} A representative from A&M Records had previously been unsuccessful in lobbying Sting to remove the song's Arabic intro on the grounds that it might alienate American audiences.{{Cite magazine |last=Simonart |first=Serge |date=January 2002|title=In His Tale |url=https://archive.org/details/2002-01-saga-magazine-01/912px-2002_01_SagaMagazine_02.jpg |access-date=9 February 2025 |magazine=Saga |via=Internet Archive|language=en}} The car company Jaguar noticed that the music video for "Desert Rose" featured Sting in a Jaguar S and offered to air portions of the music video in some of its commercials.{{Cite web |last=Rosier |first=Ben |date=23 March 2000|title=Jaguar teams up with Sting |url=https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/jaguar-teams-sting/69084 |access-date=19 February 2025 |website=Campaign |language=en}} Following an $18.5 million investment into these commercials, radio programmers began to play the song more frequently, which also bolstered the sales of its parent album.

Sting was initially reluctant to support the use of "Desert Rose" in the adverts as he feared that the Jaguar partnership would run contrary to his support for environmentalism. "Luckily, I had just planted 50,000 trees; I'm told that balances my carbon debt for any Jaguars I might have been responsible for selling." Sting told Saga magazine in 2002 that he was "happy and surprised that the song did so well. For starters, it begins in Arabic - and there aren't many pop songs in the Western world that do so." He also believed that the Arabic intro was a "calculated risk" and thought that its inclusion elicited further interest in the song.

Brand New Day received moderate to positive reviews,{{Cite web |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |date=10 October 1999 |title=Recordings: Sting Brand New Day (A&M) |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1999/10/10/stingbrand-new-day-amgliding-alongside-stevie-wonders/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116132422/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-10-10-9910100148-story.html |archive-date=16 November 2018 |access-date=3 August 2021 |website=Chicago Tribune}}{{cite magazine|first=Chris|last=Willman|title=Brand New Day Review|url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,270954,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141205124026/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,270954,00.html |archive-date=5 December 2014 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly|date=1 October 1999|access-date=3 August 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/r431308|title=Brand New Day|first=Stephen Thomas|last=Erlewine|website=Allmusic|access-date=3 August 2021|archive-date=11 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220911050433/https://www.allmusic.com/album/brand-new-day-mw0000247663|url-status=live}} with one critic calling it "world-beat". Sting took issue with the classification of Brand New Day as "world music", although he acknowledged the North African feel of "Desert Rose".{{cite web |url=https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sting-desert-rose-song/ |title='Desert Rose': The Story Behind Sting's Genre-Defying Hit |website=udiscovermusic.com |last=Peacock |first=Tim |date=17 January 2021 |access-date=3 August 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190716033228/https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/sting-desert-rose-song/ |archive-date=16 July 2019 }} Reviewers noted that the "exotic"{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-26-ca-14187-story.html|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hilburn|work=Los Angeles Times|title=Record Rack: Sting Keeps His Faith in Style|date=26 September 1999|access-date=4 February 2012|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309005736/http://articles.latimes.com:80/1999/sep/26/entertainment/ca-14187 |archive-date=9 March 2018}} song differed from the rest of the album, and cited it as one of Brand New Day{{'}}s highlights.

The music video was directed by Paul Boyd in October 1999{{cite web |url=https://www.talenthouse.com/articles/music-director-paul-boyd-gives-us-a-few-pointers-to-shoot-with |title=Music Director Paul Boyd Gives Us a Few Pointers to Shoot With |author= |date=19 February 2015 |website=talenthouse.com |access-date=3 October 2020 |archive-date=7 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220907213317/https://www.talenthouse.com/articles/music-director-paul-boyd-gives-us-a-few-pointers-to-shoot-with |url-status=dead }} and features Sting taking a trip through the Mojave Desert in a Jaguar S-Type driven by a masked female chauffeur while recording himself on a JVC GR-DVX4 video camera, and then going to a nightclub in Las Vegas to perform the song with Cheb Mami, a violinist and two DJs in front of a dancing crowd. Scenes also feature Sting walking alone in the desert holding the camera up and shots of the various patrons of the nightclub. It ends with a shot of Sting with his eyes shut (possibly asleep) in the back seat of the Jaguar, which is then seen driving off into the distance. After shooting the video, Sting's manager Miles Copeland III approached a music licensing maven, Lloyd Simon,{{citation needed|date=December 2011}} to work with Jaguar on a collaboration, and the auto company featured the video in their prominent television advertisements during the year 2000.

Also included on the single releases were club remixes by Victor Calderone. One remixed version of the song was used in an alternative edit of the video, which included more sexually explicit footage.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}} The song was later re-released on Sting's later album Duets.{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/sting-review-duets-zucchero-annie-lennox-b1819031.html |title=Sting review, Duets: Compilation album is a generous reminder of The Police star's incalculable range |work=The Independent |last=Brodsky |first=Rachel |date=18 March 2021 |access-date=3 August 2021 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210318161952/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/sting-review-duets-zucchero-annie-lennox-b1819031.html |archive-date=18 March 2021}}

UK CD1 {{small|(497 240-2)}}

1. "Desert Rose (radio edit)" – 3:55
2. "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" (live at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles) – 4:27
3. "Fragile" (live at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles) – 4:10
4. "Desert Rose" video (CD-ROM)

UK CD2 {{small|(497 241-2)}}

1. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix radio edit)" – 4:47
2. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)" – 9:21
3. "Desert Rose (Filter Dub Mix)" – 5:21
4. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)" video (CD-ROM)

UK 12-inch {{small|(497 241-1)}}

1. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)"
2. "Desert Rose (Filter Dub Mix)"
3. "Desert Rose" (original)

US CD {{small|(0694973212)}}

1. "Desert Rose (radio edit)" – 3:54
2. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix radio edit)" – 4:44
3. "Brand New Day (Murlyn Extended Mix)" – 5:01
4. "Brand New Day (Murlyn Radio Mix)" – 3:54

Europe CD {{small|(497 233-2)}}

1. "Desert Rose (radio edit)" – 3:54
2. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)" – 9:20
3. "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix radio edit)" – 4:44
4. "Brand New Day (Murlyn Mix)" – 5:01
5. "Brand New Day" video (CD-ROM)

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{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|C3lWwBslWqg|Sting – "Desert Rose"}}

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Category:1999 songs

Category:2000 singles

Category:A&M Records singles

Category:Macaronic songs

Category:Music videos directed by Paul Boyd

Category:Number-one singles in Greece

Category:Number-one singles in Portugal

Category:Songs written by Sting (musician)

Category:Sting (musician) songs

Category:Male vocal duets

Category:Jaguar Cars