If I had to pick three songs that are core to my very being, “I Burn For You,” (specifically the version from Sting’s live album, Bring on the Night) is decidedly one of them. I’ve been thinking of how I would do my version since 1988. Frankly, I cannot believe I managed to pull this off.
Per the Satie section, I’ve long harbored a fantasy of creating an EP of classical compositions arranged in the style of This Mortal Coil, whose work frankly sounded classical more often than not. There is never enough time to do all the things you mean to. But I suppose this is equally an homage to Ivo Watts Russell’s influence as much as Satie. And the Satie piece being in 3/4 time was naturally complimentary to “Burn for You” and its similar but different 6/8 time.
Satie was friends with Claude Debussey, and when Satie’s decidedly experimental and rebellious compositional style left him poor, Debussey arranged Gymnopedies I & II in his typically lavish style, leaving the skeletal composition at its core honored and celebrated (and its author a little richer for the publishing). You could fairly say that was a little bit of the inspiration for this album and its concept.