Songs About All of Us: Sting's Fragile

~ by Samir Selmanovic

On September 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacked WTC, Sting was just ending his concert in Italy.  Upon the news, he chose to sing this song.

As you can see, he is confusedly solemn here. And the audience, unaware of the magnitude of the event that happened that day doesn't not know what to think and how to feel, still enjoying the show.

I was in Manhattan at that time, listening to the same song over and over again the following week. For years, this song has been seared into my soul. All of our religious boasting comes down to this: we are born, some of us who are lucky, sing songs, some of us have hemorrhoids or eczema, and all of us die.  We are temporary and breakable. And we say "I (or we) know everything about God?" One does not know whether to laugh about it or cry.

We are in terrible need of one another. How did we ever come to a place where we use our religions to divide ourselves and make an already difficult situation even worse? Why not being sojourners instead of competitors under the mystery and misery of human existence?

So, I invite you to listen to this song again and grieve. Those who don't know how to grieve cannot hope.

"FRAGILE"

Fragile

If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the colour of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay

Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are

On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are

Comments

[Sam McCash]

It is quite apparent that the devil's strategy is to divide and conquer. To turn God's follower's against each other and get them to kill each other in His name is both sick and genius. How could it get this bad? How can human relations be so "Fragile"? The song by Sting was so remarkable. I felt a shroud of grief come over me, and grieve I did, for the "blood that flowed when the flesh and steel burned into one".

Thank you for your sharing.