and certainly have a theme they can come together about: They both came to fame as a part of a bigger collaborative and then left. For Simon it was Simon and Garfunkel, which experienced some troubled waters under the bridge of their success. For Sting it was the Police after he decided he didn’t want the rest of the band to stand so close to him. Unlike other band abandoners, their solo careers were arguably just as successful as their respective collaborations.
The two talented performers will play together at the on Tuesday for their “On Stage Together” tour, where they will sing each other’s songs (and hopefully sing some classics together). Here are a few epic covers and duets the two would be remiss not to do.
In honor of the Winter Olympics currently taking place in Sochi, Russia, Simon should cover the slow rock ballad “Fields of Gold.” It would be fascinating to see what his playful acoustic guitar skills and twangy vocals might bring from this song that wasn’t there before. It’s also a good bet that everybody who heard about this epic pairing between soft rock swooning/funky bass and folk crooning/intricate guitar pictured Simon taking the stage to sing a version of “Roxanne.” It’s so out of his element, I think it might just be the best thing since the Police did it.
There is no way that Sting won’t play a song off Simon’s album “Graceland.” The crazy fretless bass playing that appears on this album is a perfect match for the poppy, groove-filled hits he recorded in his earlier work with the Police. Also, Simon’s songs like “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” have a more world-music feel to them, which would translate very easily over to the style Sting has fostered in his solo career.
The song that absolutely, no questions about it, must be harmonized by both Simon and Sting: Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” Another great one for a duet would be The Police’s “Don’t Stand So Close to Me.”
In line with the theme of leaving their original companions to go solo, Sting could do a rendition of “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” and Simon could tackle Sting’s “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free.” That might be a little passive aggressive though.
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James Garcia is a community reporter at the Loveland Reporter-Herald and a new blogger at Reverb. Follow him on Twitter @JamesGarciaRH.
