Moon Over Bourbon Street - Live In Berlin/2010

This was inspired by the Anne Rice novel Interview With The Vampire. Police guitarist Andy Summers gave Sting the book, which he read late into the night. Sting recalled in Lyrics By Sting: "Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire was the direct inspiration for this song, but there was one moonlit night in the French Quarter of New Orleans where I had the distinct impression that I was being followed."

Bourbon Street is a reference to the main drag in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. As might be expected for a street that shares its name with an alcohol, it's party-central whenever Mardi Gras is in session. While it's also a major tourist attraction, that attraction is due mainly to the street being tiled solid with bars, strip clubs, and general seedy business. The area was one of the few parts of New Orleans unscathed by Hurricane Katrina.

This is one of six singles released from the album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Five of these at least charted on the UK Singles chart, including "Moon over Bourbon Street." The song put radio programmers in an awkward spot: Sting was one of the most popular artists of the time, but this song didn't fit any specific format. It didn't get a lot of play on American radio, but many UK stations expanded their horizons and added it.