“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 No. 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 raï singer Mami.
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,[citation needed] to work with Jaguar on a collaboration, and the auto company featured the video in their prominent television advertisements during the year 2000.
Desert Rose Lyrics (1999)
Ya leel
Ya leel
Hadaee mada tawila
Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti
Wa ana nahos ana wahala
Wa ana nahos ana wahala
I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand
I dream of fire
These dreams that tie two hearts that will never die
Near the flames
The shadows play in the shape of the man’s desire
This desert rose
Whose shadow bears the secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this
And now she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothing’s as it seems
I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand
I dream of rain
I lift my gaze to empty skies above
I close my eyes
The rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of love
Ya leel
Ya leel
I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand
Sweet desert rose
Whose shadow bears the secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this
Sweet desert rose
This memory of hidden hearts and souls
This desert flower
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of love
Ya leel
Ya leel
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