Lithium Sunset

this is about lithium (the drug)... sting's bipolar and more than likely, this song leads me to believe, that he's treated with lithium

I don't agree. Lithium is a color of blue. This rumor isn't true and it's nonsense that's he's bipolar. In an interview he was trying to explain a time in his life when fame and all it brings got the better of him. Others made assumptions and took his words literally but how often does anyone speak literally? I really think that his confusion at the time was motivation to grow past the group he was in and growth is rarely predictable. I think the song is about ego blows that propel us into diverse perspectives. They are painful but refreshing once we get over the initial shock and then they are like lithium--the color and the drug--used figuratively. A song writer is a poet and colorful analogies are what keep us listening.

My error. Lithium is apparently a silvery color.

The suspicion that he's bipolar came from an interview in which he stated that, during the Police days, he tried to kill himself on some ocasions. That could very well have been a joke, 'cause like you said sillybunny, he's a poet and talks literary in interviews. But I saw him on the list of celebs thought to have Bipolarity disorder. I got curious, and I stared paying atention to his behaviour and history. Youknow, I'm thinking of going to study psichology after highschool, so I thought it would be a good start, with Sting ^.^ From what I read about him, he most definetly has it (bipolarity). There are a few simptoms I'm not sure of, but I don't quite see him on a daily bassis. I've read what fans have written about meating him, and my suspicions were confiremed in high amounts. So I'm almost 100% sure he's bipolar (ALMOST). Sting said he wrote this song for all the people with bipolarity. Why the sudden interest?

Because he has sympathy for bi-polar people? What do you think, Al? That you are being a smart butt. You know very well what he is referring to.
Do I? Don't be so coy... Why not? We saw some rather debilitating heartache dished up, among other complexities.
No one will know what you are talking about. Oh, it was all my imagination ... It didn't happen. Oh, it did. Perfect for a crazy enchantress and a song writer. And their own alpha male smart butt ...

From the horse's mouth...

On a trip to Brazil, a local did inform him, while watching a sunset, that lithium which can be found in prescrubed antidepressants is naturally present in sunlight (rising or setting). So the rising or setting sun - the lithium sunset is a God given antidepressant.

So true ....

And, in 'Lithium Sunset', sparked by a meeting with a Brazilian shaman, he sings of how a sunset's light can have a healing effect. It's a mystical but optimistic end to a disc that improves with each listening.

I think that the man may be Bipolar: Worry, obsidian darkness, scattered and shattered, I'll get better, heal my soul. 'I feel you light upon my face'.

Check out 'Heavy Clouds ButNo Rain'.

We all have ups and downs. Bipolar is a somewhat subjective diagnosis. Anyway, if he isn't diagnosed as such, the song definitely is about someone who is. Lithium maybe a colour but is also the main prescribed mood stabilizer. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he was. Anyway, very talented and good looking guy in his prime. He has every right to feel chuffed with himself! Beautiful song - just discovered it!

“The idea for this song came to me when I was in Brazil, I have a great fondness for Brazil, and I met what I can best describe as a shaman (who happens to have a degree in Chemistry). He was explaining something to me, he was saying that sunlight is composed of a lot of elements and one of them is Lithium and, as you know, Lithium is a medication given to the depressed, it’s a very successful drug. But it actually exists in sunlight and at sunrise and sunset you can look into the sun without damage and the eye does not filter yellow light so the Lithium goes straight to the brain. Which is why people get a great deal of comfort and solace from looking at the sunset or the sunrise. So I wrote a song called “Lithium Sunset” which is an ode to this natural medication that is available to all.” Sting (422)