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Desert Rose (Sting song)

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Desert Rose

| cover = Desert Rose (Sting song) coverart.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Sting featuring Cheb Mami

| album = Brand New Day

| released =

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Worldbeat

| length =

| label = A&M

| writer =

| producer =

| chronology = Sting

| prev_title = Brand New Day

| prev_year = 1999

| next_title = After the Rain Has Fallen

| next_year = 2000

| misc =

}}

"'Desert Rose'" is a song by British musician Sting featuring Cheb Mami from his album 'Brand New Day' (1999). According to Sting, the lyrics have to do with "lost love and longing". Riding a wave of pre-9/11 interest in Latin and Arabic cultures, the song peaked at 2 in Canada, No. 3 in Switzerland, No. 4 in Italy, No. 15 in the UK, and No. 17 in the US. The song is noted for Sting's duet performance with Algerian ra singer Mami.

Reception



The song's album 'Brand New Day' received moderate to positive reviews, with some reviewers stating that it had a "world-beat", or sounded "exotic". However, in the reviews "Desert Rose" was cited as being different than the rest of the album, being one of the highlights of the album. The critics take on Sting's "world music" did not sit well with the singer, stating that he did not do world music, though acknowledging the North African feel to the song.

Music video



The music video was directed by Paul Boyd, and features Sting taking a trip through the Mojave Desert in a Jaguar S-Type driven by a masked female chauffeur while recording himself on a JVC GR-DVX4 video camera, and then going to a nightclub in Las Vegas to perform the song with Cheb Mami. Scenes also feature Sting walking alone in the desert holding the camera up. It ends with a shot of Sting with his eyes shut (possibly asleep) in the back seat of the Jaguar, which is then seen driving off into the distance. After shooting the video, Sting's manager Miles Copeland III approached a music licensing maven, Lloyd Simon, to work with Jaguar on a collaboration, and the auto company featured the video in their prominent television advertisements during the year 2000.

Remixes



Also included on the single releases were club remixes by Victor Calderone. One remixed version of the song was used in an alternative edit of the video, which included more sexually explicit footage. The song was later re-released on Sting's later album 'Duets'.

Track listings



'UK CD1 '

# "Desert Rose (radio edit)" 3:55

# "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" (live at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles) 4:27

# "Fragile" (live at the Universal Amphitheatre, Los Angeles) 4:10

# "Desert Rose" video (CD-ROM)

'UK CD2 '

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix radio edit)" 4:47

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)" 9:21

# "Desert Rose (Filter Dub Mix)" 5:21

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)" video (CD-ROM)

'UK 12-inch '

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)"

# "Desert Rose (Filter Dub Mix)"

# "Desert Rose" (original)

'US CD '

# "Desert Rose (radio edit)" 3:54

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix radio edit)" 4:44

# "Brand New Day (Murlyn Extended Mix)" 5:01

# "Brand New Day (Murlyn Radio Mix)" 3:54

'Europe CD '

# "Desert Rose (radio edit)" 3:54

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix)" 9:20

# "Desert Rose (Melodic Club Mix radio edit)" 4:44

# "Brand New Day (Murlyn Mix)" 5:01

# "Brand New Day" video (CD-ROM)

Charts



Weekly charts



Year-end charts

{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Year-end chart performance for "Desert Rose"

!Chart (2000)

!Position

|-

!scope="row"|Austria (3 Austria Top 40)

|27

|-

!scope="row"|Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)

|33

|-

!scope="row"|Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)

|19

|-

!scope="row"|France (SNEP)

|27

|-

!scope="row"|Germany (Official German Charts)

|32

|-

!scope="row"|Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)

|17

|-

!scope="row"|US 'Billboard' Hot 100

|50

|}

Release history



References




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