"Moon over Bourbon Street" is the fifth single from

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

's solo debut album ''

The Dream of the Blue Turtles ''The Dream of the Blue Turtles'' is the debut solo album by English musician Sting, released on 17 June 1985. The album reached number three on the UK Albums Chart and number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Five singles were released from ...

''. The single peaked at No. 44 on the UK singles chart and the title of the song references the historic French Quarter of New Orleans route of

Bourbon Street Bourbon Street (, ) is a historic street in the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans. Extending twelve blocks from Canal Street to Esplanade Avenue, Bourbon Street is famous for its many bars and strip clubs. Tourist numbers have b ...

Background

Sting composed the song in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and said that it was inspired by

Anne Rice Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of Gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Bible fiction. She is best known for writing ''The Vampire Chronicles''. She later adapted t ...

gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

noir novel ''

Interview with the Vampire ''Interview with the Vampire'' is a gothic horror and vampire novel by American author Anne Rice, published in 1976. It was her debut novel. Based on a short story Rice wrote around 1968, the novel centers on vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac ...

''. Sting plays

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

on the song. Sting mentioned that the composition "was inspired by a book by Anne Rice, called ''Interview with the Vampire'', a beautiful book about this vampire which is a vampire by accident. He's immortal and he has to kill people to live, but he's been left with his conscience intact. He's this wonderful, poignant soul who has to do evil, yet wants to stop. Once again, it's the duality which interested me." He also said that although it was inspired by the Rice novel that "there was one moonlit night in the French Quarter of New Orleans where I had the distinct impression that I was being followed ..." (an occurrence which also contributed to the tune's genesis). In 2003, Sting re-recorded the song as a B-side on the single "

Send Your Love "Send Your Love" is a song by English musician Sting, released as the lead single from his seventh studio album, ''Sacred Love'' (2003), on 30 July 2003. Written by Sting and co-produced by him and Kipper, "Send Your Love" features Spanish compo ...

", which peaked at No. 30 on the UK music charts.

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moon Over Bourbon Street 1985 songs 1986 singles Songs about New Orleans Songs about streets Sting (musician) songs Works based on The Vampire Chronicles