When you’re a world-famous singer, known for your politics and your sensitivity, what do you sing at a concert being held at the site of a terror attack?
Sting must have thought deeply about it as he was about to perform at the reopened Bataclan concert hall in Paris, where 89 people were killed as part of a gruesome wave of terror attacks across the French capital in November 2015. And so he chose to apply a salve, picking a song from his new album, 57th and 9th.
The song, Inshallah, is dedicated to refugees hit by the Syrian crisis, and it serves as a message of hope for people across the globe.
The video is an extension of that pain in bits and pieces. The mood is dark and Sting’s searing vocals cut across the gloomy landscape. The singer said in an interview that most of the album deals with emigrating.
“Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will, it shall come to pass.
Inshallah, Inshallah,
If it be your will…”
The song directly addresses the fear that grips refugees and those stuck in limbo. One of the most moving visuals in the video is of a girl staring into space, crying silent tears.
“As the wind blows, growing colder,
Against the sad boats, as we flee,
Anxious eyes, search in darkness,
With the rising of the sea.”
At the Bataclan, Sting termed Inshallah a “marvelous word” and a “word of hope” while talking about Europe’s migrant crisis. The audience was visibly moved and his words were greeted with a round of applause.
However, his song hasn’t been spared from criticism and anger online. Some people have reacted strongly, saying that his decision to include the word, “Inshallah” in his song is highly disrespectful.
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