Sting embarks on "The Last Ship"

When Sting comes back to his hometown these days, it's not to the same place he left more than five decades ago. The city of Newcastle, tucked up in the northeast corner of England, now presents a tranquil vista where modern architecture spans calm waters. But for centuries, Newcastle was a hard-scrabble, noisy, industrial powerhouse. It built ships. And Sting, a boy from a working-class family, was given some fatherly advice he didn't want to hear: "He'd say, 'Son, go to sea. …