Moon over Bourbon Street

"Moon over Bourbon Street"
Single by Sting
from the album The Dream of the Blue Turtles
B-side	"The Ballad of Mack the Knife"
Released	7 February 1986 [1]
Genre	Pop rock, jazz
Length	3:39
Label	A&M
Songwriter(s)	Sting
Producer(s)	Sting and Peter Smith
Sting singles chronology
"Russians" (1985) "Moon over Bourbon Street" (1986) "We Work the Black Seam" (1986)

"Moon over Bourbon Street" is the fifth single from Sting's solo debut album The Dream of the Blue Turtles . The single peaked at No. 44 on the UK singles chart and the title of the song references the historic French Quarter of New Orleans route of Bourbon Street.

Background

Sting composed the song in New Orleans and said that it was inspired by Anne Rice's gothic noir novel Interview with the Vampire . ^[2] Sting plays double bass on the song. ^[3]

Sting mentioned that the composition "was inspired by a book by Anne Rice, called Interview with the Vampire, a beautiful book about this vampire which is a vampire by accident. He's immortal and he has to kill people to live, but he's been left with his conscience intact. He's this wonderful, poignant soul who has to do evil, yet wants to stop. Once again, it's the duality which interested me." ^[4] He also said that although it was inspired by the Rice novel that "there was one moonlit night in the French Quarter of New Orleans where I had the distinct impression that I was being followed ..." (an occurrence which also contributed to the tune's genesis).

In 2003, Sting re-recorded the song as a B-side on the single "Send Your Love", which peaked at No. 30 on the UK music charts.^{[ citation needed ]}

Charts

Chart (1990)	Peak position
UK Singles (OCC) [5]	44

References

1. "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 1 February 1986. p. 16. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
2. Montee, Chris (10 November 1985). "Sting: A new movie, a new band, a new birth". Sun-Sentinel . Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
3. The Dream of The Blue Turtles (CD liner notes). Sting. United States: A&M. 1985.
4. "Sting | Discography | Moon Over Bourbon Street, 12-inch". Sting.com.
5. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 15 July 2025.