''Mercury Falling'' is the fifth studio album by English musician Sting. It was released on 8 March 1996 through

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

and was produced by Sting alongside longtime producer Hugh Padgham. The album features many tracks which see elements of

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

and

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

music integrated to a greater extent than on past releases. Supporting musicians on the album include frequent collaborators Dominic Miller on guitar,

Kenny Kirkland Kenneth David Kirkland (September 28, 1955 – November 12, 1998) was an American pianist and keyboardist. Biography Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, United States, Kirkland was six when he first sat down at a piano keyboard. After years ...

on keyboards,

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer known for his technical mastery who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the ''Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drumme ...

on drums, and

Branford Marsalis Branford Marsalis (born August 26, 1960) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. While primarily known for his work in jazz as the leader of the Branford Marsalis Quartet, he also performs frequently as a soloist with classical ens ...

on tenor and soprano saxophone. ''Mercury Falling'' was a success, reaching the top 10 in 18 countries, but failed to match the success of its predecessors. None of its four singles—" Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot", " You Still Touch Me", " I Was Brought to My Senses", and " I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying"—were hits across all regions, although the former two did perform well in the UK and especially Canada, where both reached the top 10. The album has been certified Platinum in three different countries (US, UK and Canada) and Gold in nine others. In 1997, the album earned Sting two

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominations—

Best Pop Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...

and

Best Male Pop Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a male in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The award wen ...

for "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot".

Music and lyrics

Alongside being used as the album's title, the phrase "mercury falling" appears as the first and last lyrics heard on the album. The lyric was the first written for the album (for "The Hounds of Winter"), and Sting later felt the phrase evoked the mood of the record and its variety of styles: "there are so many styles on this record and it darts around from genre to genre and back again. It's a very mercurial record, and it seemed to be the right thing to call the record." "I Hung My Head" is one of many songs on the album to be played in an odd

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

, in this case .

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

performed a cover of the song on '' American IV: The Man Comes Around'', his final studio album released during his lifetime. " Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" displays a significant

influence; Sting has stated that the music of artists such as

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

heavily inspired the track. Expanding on this theme, the Memphis Horns were brought in to play on the track. The lyrics were inspired by a friend who was suffering from

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

, and how such an event can affect someone's outlook on life. Sting described the song as "a song about death, or dealing with death in a way that offers some sort of hope. I actually think it's quite an uplifting song - the intent is for it to be uplifting." " I Was Brought to My Senses" is a song about gaining a greater appreciation for nature. It starts off as a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

ballad in , before transitioning to the main part of the song, which features what Sting called "a Brazilian vibe" and is played in . The track "Twenty Five to Midnight" was excluded from the American and Canadian releases. It was included in the CD-Maxi Single of " You Still Touch Me", as the 4th track. "La Belle Dame sans regrets" is sung entirely in French; its title translates to "the beautiful lady with no regrets". The song was co-written with Sting's guitarist Dominic Miller. Miller wrote the song's music as a tribute to Brazilian musician

Antônio Carlos Jobim Antônio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (25 January 1927 – 8 December 1994), also known as Tom Jobim (), was a Brazilian composer, pianist, guitarist, songwriter, arranger, and singer. Considered as one of the great exponents of Brazilian ...

, composing it in his hotel room the day he heard about Jobim's death. Sting had guested on Jobim's album '' Antônio Brasileiro'', which was released posthumously in 1994. "Valparaiso" was used during the closing credits of the 1996 film '' White Squall''.

Reception

''Mercury Falling'' was released on 8 March 1996. It reached number four in Sting's native UK and number five in the US, becoming his fifth straight studio album to make the top 5 in both countries. The album also achieved top ten placements in 16 other countries in addition to the European Albums Chart (where it topped the chart). "Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot" was released as the album's first single on 19 February 1996. It became a top 20 hit in the UK, peaking at number 15, but stalled at number 86 in the US. It did, however, reach number 3 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Adult Alternative Airplay Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart. The single was most successful in Canada, where it peaked at number 7. "You Still Touch Me", the album's second single, reached number 27 in the UK. In the US, it was more successful than its predecessor, peaking at number 60. The song matched the previous single's chart placement in Canada, giving Sting yet another number 7 hit. A remixed version of "I Was Brought to My Senses", done by Steve Lipson, served at the album's third single. It barely missed the top 30 in the UK and failed to chart in the US. "I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying" was the album's final single.

Toby Keith Toby Keith Covel (July 8, 1961 – February 5, 2024) was an American country music singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and businessman. Keith released his chart-topping debut single, "Should've Been a Cowboy", in 1993. During the 1990s ...

released a cover of the song as a single from his album '' Dream Walkin''', Sting guested on the track which gave him his only country hit.

Track listing

Note: "Twenty Five To Midnight" was excluded from the original American and Canadian pressings of the album.

B-sides

Personnel

* Sting – vocals, bass, arrangements *

– keyboards * Gerry Richardson –

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert, first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding #Drawbars, drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, sound was created ...

(3) * Dominic Miller – guitars, arrangements (8) * B. J. Cole –

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

(6, 11) *

– drums * Andrew Love – saxophones (2, 3, 5, 7, 8) *

–

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

(3),

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

(4) * Wayne Jackson – trumpet (2, 3, 5, 7, 8) *

Kathryn Tickell Kathryn Tickell, Order of the British Empire, OBE, Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 8 June 1967) is an English musician, noted for playing the Northumbrian smallpipes and fiddle. Music career Early life Kathryn Tickell was born in Walsall, to parent ...

–

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

(4), Northumbrian pipes (9) * Lance Ellington – additional vocals (3, 4) * Shirley Lewis – additional vocals (3, 4) * Monica Reed Price – additional vocals (3, 4) * Tony Walters – additional vocals (3, 4) * East London Gospel Choir – choir (3, 4) * Graeme Perkins – vocal session coordinator (3, 4)

Production

* Sting – producer * Hugh Padgham – producer, engineer, mixing * Simon Osborne – engineer *

Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...

– mastering * Gateway Mastering (Portland, Maine) – mastering location * Danny Quatrochi – personal technical assistant * Jeri Heiden – art direction, design * William Claxton – photography * Fabrizio Ferri – photography *

Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing ...

– management * Kim Turner – management

Accolades

Grammy Awards

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1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

Stingoop.com
Mercury Falling Release Details {{Authority control Sting (musician) albums 1996 albums Albums produced by Hugh Padgham A&M Records albums Country albums by English artists