Best Song Lyrics (Part XIX)

If I said one of the greatest songwriters of all-time had the given name of Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, would you know who that is?  Maybe 1 out of 100 people over the age of 40 (and 1 out of 1000 younger than that) could tell you it was the artist currently known as Sting.

Sting first become famous as the front man for The Police, writing and singing big hits like Every Breath You Take and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic in the late 70s and early 80s,  He started his solo career in the mid-80s, and has been going strong ever since.

At the peak of his powers in the 90s, Sting had a string of great songs that included the hits If I Ever Lose My Faith In You and Fields Of Gold.  But it was one of his earlier efforts, a pre-Cold War ending song called Russians, which had the sharp lyrics that resonated with me both then, and now:

In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria,
Conditioned to respond to all the threats, in the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets,
Mr. Krushchev said we will bury you, I don't subscribe to this point of view,
It would be such an ignorant thing to do, if the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy, from Oppenheimer's deadly toy,
There is no monopoly in common sense, on either side of the political fence,
We share the same biology, regardless of ideology,
Believe me when I say to you, I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent, to put the words in the mouth of the President,
There's no such thing as a winnable war, it's a lie we don't believe anymore,
Mr. Reagan says we will protect you, I don't subscribe to this point of view,
Believe me when I say to you, I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology, regardless of ideology,
What might save us, me, and you, is if the Russians love their children too