WCSX Classic Cuts
The Police: “Spirits in the Material World”
The Hook: The political process isn’t going to solve our problems.
Album: Ghost in the Machine
Year: 1981
Writer: Sting
Stats: Peaked at number-11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: The first lines of “Spirits in the Material World” by The Police are “There is no political solution to our troubled evolution/Have no faith in constitution/There is no bloody revolution.” In a 1981 interview, Sting explained why he wrote them.
Sting on what inspired the lyrics to The Police’s “Spirits in the Material World.” OC:…so much chaos. :21
“I’ve lost all faith in the political process to solve any of our problems. I think it’s failed and it’s failed over centuries – it hasn’t just failed this week. The politicians tend to think of us as being a bit like robots, they want us to be machines. It’s much easier, we make better soldiers. But we’re not like that, that’s why there’s so much chaos.”