Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The Police: Man In A Suitcase (live)


Unlike certain fine wines, the Police did not get better with age. That doesn't discredit the occasional hit they produced during their later years, nor is it an attempt to impugn Sting's strange, yet occasionally decent solo career. Quite simply, they just happened to produce their best stuff during their first act. Their Zenyatta Mondatta album and its edgy blend of punk, reggae and new wave is unreal and never ceases to be a great listening experience. "Man in A Suitcase" may be the best Police song you have never heard before given all of the self-pitying strange musical experiments, like "Every Breath You Take," that seem to anchor their reputation by today's flaccid standards.

It's been an interesting few weeks for the werewolf. Last week he rejected the gradual stagnation of exile in suburban New York and relocated to Washington, DC, to pursue an opportunity in politics. Exile is still far from over.

The werewolf is grateful that his best friend of many a year, the Legal Beagle, has a loft in Chinatown and has allowed the werewolf to crash on the couch for the time being. A fringe benefit has been being spoiled by the Legal Beagle's gourmand wife, as he just watched her pack his lunch for tomorrow. It'll be hard to leave both the good company and excellent food that the Legal Beagle's yuppie domicile provides. Valuing relationships and nurturing credibility have been some of exile's key takeaways thus far.

This weekend will mark a strange new chapter in exile as the werewolf sublets a room in a house from a old hippyish, cat lady. They say life comes at you fast sometimes. No shit. The price is right for the time being and it gives the werewolf the ability to chase his dreams. Even though he will literally be a man in a suitcase for the next two to three months.

The abrupt move to DC has done wonders for his confidence and sense of self-worth. In some ways, the werewolf is beginning to reconnect with his long lost mojo. A prized characteristic he thought had atrophied months ago.

To celebrate his moving to DC, the werewolf allowed himself out of the cage and behaved as if the moon was full this past Saturday night. Although rusty and a tad humbler than before, he is pleased to announce that he hasn't lost his ability to be pleasantry pleasantly reckless and wild under the right circumstances. Someday he hopes to recount the improbable debauchery that ensued.

Yesterday was the first day of his transitional political job. It went well. The next few months will require some ball-busting labor, humble, but hungry attitude, and an appetite for risk. But for the first time in a long while, the werewolf feels slightly human. A-hoooo!

2 comments:

  1. ZM is the greatest Police release, IMO, Outlandos... is a close second. Brilliant albums. If I had only those two CDs from the Police, I would be happy. Sting's music is unmentionable. Good to hear you've rediscovered your mojo. Perhaps it's the set change, or the tentative signs of spring. Did the debauchery involve a bar fight, a girl, sickness, or a night in jail? If so, please do tell...

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  2. Agreed about the Police. For years, I wrote them off solely based on "Every Breath You Take." That song is criminal. I really can't enough of their earlier stuff. Especially since they were a trio. They generate a distinctive sound. Sting's solo career is like his acting career, it should be forgettable, but it's weird enough, that it lingers like a bad aftertaste from slightly spoiled food.

    As for Saturday, the mojo is no longer comatose and for that I am grateful. Like a aged weapon that has been untouched for too long, it still needs to be honed and cleaned up before it is back at full operational effectiveness.

    No bar fight this time. There was a lascivious vixen. Someone else got violently ill from too much booze and almost fraged the werewolf. Luckily, no cops were involved this time. Beyond that, a gentlemen never tells.

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