Sting The Snow It Melts The Soonest Jools Holland Later Nov 3 2009

[KellyDawn]

I can NOT believe he sounds this beautiful live. Oh my goodness!  <3

[TPom8458]

Does anyone have the chords / tabs for this version?

[samuel588]

Brilliant. I have the album too

[MsJayney1]

Didn't like the beard or the cardigan but wow just listen. Saw him sing this live in Durham Cathedral, most magical evening. :-)

[hugfrombug]

his voice is great in this. I find his voice grating in his upper register sometimes - but his lower register really still has it.

[CrazyIdioT08]

justin bieber just disliked this.

[amimillie]

I just can't believe that he can sing this so well - such a change from his boring, boring, boring post-Police shite.

[malismad]

Horslips do a brilliant version.

For Sting, this is quite good

[sharonbng]

hauntingly beautiful ,remembering ancient times

[tfdfighter]

lol Sting looks like a bum in this one! However I like this easy tune. It's very chill!

Thanks for upping it!

[coritheor]

Two words: Dick Gaughan

[66campanilla66]

El día está oscuro e induce a la melancolía, que de ser tristeza es sosegada, es el recuerdo, el recogimiento..., una mantita una chimenea y un buen sonido de fondo mientras el fuego chisporretea y en el regazo un buen libro para soñar...; y volar a otras tierras, a otras culturas, .... para abrir la mente y ser más comprensivo con el mundo.

[stobbo123]

@kdelplancke yes it is

[mineowyn]

omg weird lyrics lol

[8096446]

Yes,DADGAD and capo on 3rd

[fricklesome]

@8096446

did you find out the chords? If so, could you please send it to me?

Thx

[samuel588]

I think Sting is a great musician. I brought if on a winters tale and its really good. This song is on it.

[MrChubbleyWarner]

I don't care if there are better versions than this...Sting is an amazing singer, musician and songwriter and I would never have heard this song if he had not brought it to a wider audience.

[grovesred]

Sorry, he's strangled it.

[windster]

Dick Gaughan's version is the best. Honestly! It's on the 'Handful of Earth ? LP

[cujimmy92]

Yes, yes, but listen to the magic chords of the guitar player. You won't find better for this song - spare, elegant and dead on.

[Vince1303]

If you want to hear a far superior version of this song, check out the Album Drive the cold winter away by Irish group Horslips.

[Hellotheres]

i concur!

[JoeTheToucan]

Sting's version makes it so much more ancient and haunting. The version you showed is good, but more upbeat- I don't think it's that amazing. But this version, right here, I think is something special.

[MegMerrilies]

I'm glad such a high profile person is bringing this music to a wider audience but it's a shame it has to be so. The traditional music of the British Isles is wonderful. Hopefully it'll make people curious to explore our musical heritage further.

[t4texas]

The song is a beautiful song. Sting, ultimately, is a pop singer and he really doesn't to the song justice. Seek out other versions by the likes of Archie Fisher, Anne Briggs, or the version Sting learned it from by Dick Gaughan. The Sunday Herald had a story back in July about Kathryn Tickell playing Gaughan's version to Sting. The arrangement is similar, but the vocals don't hold a candle to Gaughan's.

[BrianNewbrook]

Sting singing our folk songs is like Accountants looking after our money :-)

[rad10hed]

did sting write this??

[mc776]

no it's an old northern folk song i think, not sure.

[coritheor]

@rad10hed No, its believed to be a traditional northern folk song.

[pipthemakem]

sting has an amzing voice and when he does slow stuff like this its seems even better

[sk8upbillz]

LYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LJWooly]

Yes?

[cornholio1962]

the man is getting on a bit now, hes not gona do pop stuff his music taste is maturing and branching out, i think its sublime and beautiful,this comes from an old heavy metal rocker,im not blinkered anymore to music styles

[mrm4xim4m]

great observation, NOOOOOOT! hahaha ... what a beautiful, wonderful,enchanting, deep, organic song and fine performance.

..this is a real musician here so a sorry goes out to to all the young people or ignorant 'adults' who cannot realise this, but its your loss!

[mrm4xim4m]

you have no taste whatsoever and are quite ignorant THIS MAN IS A REAL ARTIST.. AND THIS SONG IS WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL, ABSOLUTELTY FANTASTIC! in my opinion, haha! and many more than all the people who choose to be ignorant. :) you'll get fed up o the T.I pop bullshtien soon pal.. and will develop some taste... im sure of that!

[CArnivoRousLunarActi]

Bert Jansch does a great version of this.

[Minihuse]

i dont get why hes turned into shit, this guy used to write good music

[karlburgarn]

Magic..

[subiektywnaplytoteka]

He looks like Michael Stipe....If you know what i mean!!!!!:)

[musclemangibbo]

What a load of crap!

[subiektywnaplytoteka]

Stipe sings better and looks better in beard...

[eddiebhoy1234]

Dick Gaughan's version is far far superior. Pity Sting lacks the class to credit him with the arrangment.

[NormanFitzNicely]

jsimes1 and t4texas are quite right - he learned this from hearing Gaughan's version on "Handful of Earth". As for Horslips being "the original" , sorry, but no - it's been around a lot longer than that.

And a pity he couldn't get the title right. "The Snows They Melt The Soonest" is what the song is called, but Sting obviously missed the poetry in that...

[jsimes1]

Wow Dick Gaughan should be proud that Sting used his arrangement!

Or should that be - Sting should be proud of his rendition of Dick's arrangement?

;)

[mickeybroon1]

I couldn't agree more jsimes1

[t4texas]

Anybody who cares for this version owes it to themselves to seek out Gaughan's. I find it far superior to this one, which borrows a lot from Gaughan.

[StickyyWinklee]

ii want to try and find ''winter at sea'' what he played during the show, but ii cant find it anywhere :(

[xensboy]

MrBuzzAldrin has just uploaded it

[BeardySteve1]

It reminds me of Pippins song from Return of the King a bit.

[rtfarty65]

Fantastic stuff and worth the wait. Stings voice justs gets better with age. Happy to see him experimenting and investigating his own personal interests & musical genres. Would love to hear him go back to the Jazz infused energy as heard on the Bring on the Night album next tho even if it was in a more laid back style...

[Lalla37]

There is no Doubt Stings vocals and Phrasing are different , but his notataion and delivery are didfferent from the Horslips version but only by knowing the original ,you can also see his love of  the song and this is only realised by his listening to the original .

[d40a5c]

I prefer this interpretation to any other I've heard. The beginning and end have a beautiful medieval, mysterious feel to them, and the middle section is so deeply soulful. Bravo Sting.

[epilogue05]

If this is a dirge, then any negative comments would be welcome but it's not... its a masterclass.

[kerryburnout]

Why are people on this thread banging on about Horslips? If you prefer their version go comment on that.

[captjo1966]

whata beautiful song x

[sonnybait]

Seperated at Birth : Sting & Seasick Steve

[Noursbear]

Now now, would the no good for notin' Horslips fans commenting here go back and attend to their families, move along move along now...

It doesn't really work now does it...

[Bellababe4U]

oh...someone has their nose out of joint now don't we...

[regardez403]

Well, it was a good idea. It's a lovely song, and I wouldn't even say that Sting's voice is unsuited to the material.....but the interpretation and execution is a bit draggy. Too many loooooog notes and you lose the pretty tune. Whatever he's trying to do here, it's not working.

[kocistka]

Beautiful. Really beautiful. It is so nice to hear something like that. I love the new album.

[Maritimepeters]

If you have never had a nice wine, vinegar seems pretty good. You really should hear Horslips of Ireland do this..less of a dirge, more a song

[claudiodiserafino]

absolutely wonderful...

[keepitup75]

superbe performance !

[longfordman]

Ireland's finest, Horslips, did the definitve version of this song on their 1976 Christmas album, 'Drive the Cold Winter Away'.

This version is pretty much a dirge!

[partyhead11]

heard this last nite what a song and performance

[MrDazzadar]

Absolutely fantastic

[alysbeth]

luvly!!!!! nice bass playing. (+: LOL.

[crisalvini]

Wonderful!!!!!!!

[Hunnytre]

Beautiful song.