A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you. I'm lost without you
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you. I'm mad about you
And from the dark secluded valleys
I heard the ancient songs of sadness
But every step I thought of you
Every footstep only you
And every star a grain of sand
The leavings of a dried up ocean
Tell me, how much longer? How much longer?
They say a city in the desert lies
The vanity of an ancient king
But the city lies in broken pieces
Where the wind howls and the vultures sing
These are the works of man
This is the sum of our ambition
It would make a prison of my life
If you became another's wife
With every prison blown to dust
My enemies walk free
I'm mad about you. I'm mad about you
And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominions over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love
A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you. I'm lost without you
And though you hold the keys to ruin
Of everything I see
With every prison blown to dust,
My enemies walk free
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you. I'm mad about you
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you. I'm lost without you
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you. I'm mad about you
And from the dark secluded valleys
I heard the ancient songs of sadness
But every step I thought of you
Every footstep only you
And every star a grain of sand
The leavings of a dried up ocean
Tell me, how much longer? How much longer?
They say a city in the desert lies
The vanity of an ancient king
But the city lies in broken pieces
Where the wind howls and the vultures sing
These are the works of man
This is the sum of our ambition
It would make a prison of my life
If you became another's wife
With every prison blown to dust
My enemies walk free
I'm mad about you. I'm mad about you
And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominions over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love
A stone's throw from Jerusalem
I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight
And though a million stars were shining
My heart was lost on a distant planet
That whirls around the April moon
Whirling in an arc of sadness
I'm lost without you. I'm lost without you
And though you hold the keys to ruin
Of everything I see
With every prison blown to dust,
My enemies walk free
Though all my kingdoms turn to sand
And fall into the sea
I'm mad about you. I'm mad about you
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About his marriage, he married a year after, and only because his kids told him to. So he and Trudie took the vows 10 years after the started living together (aww... how sweet!) The album "Soul Cages" is, as Sting himself put it, and album about death, dedicated to his father passing away from cancer. But this soin doesn't seem to have much to do with death. Oh, well... like he said: we know "nothing 'bout him".
Anyway, he's my interpretation of the song (brace yorself!):
"A stones's throw from Jerusalem"-
Close to salvation, to redemption.
"I walked a lonely mile in the moonlight"-
He was alone in his desperation.
"And though a million stars were shining"-
Multiple things that were intereSting, that could have caught his eye, that could have distracted him.
"My heart was lost on a distant planet"-
He loved someone who was as far as "a distant planet".
"That whirls around the April moon"-
He met her in the month of April one night?
"Whirling in an arc of sadness"-
She was sad, or their tale is a sad one because they're separated.
.....
"Though all the kingdoms turn to sand"-
All of his achevements and sucesses are rendered useless at the end of the day
"And fall into the sea"-
I have a feeling that water, and the sea in particular, represents emotion to Sting ("Be still my beating heart" is a great testemony to that), so he let his feelings get in the way of his work, either that or his work and career pale in comparisson to Love.
........
"And from the dark secluded valleys"-
Again, the lonelyness he feels inside; or he's being tested by life, going through a hard time.
"I heard the ancient songs of sadness"-
Torment others had been through before him (I'm really not sure about this one, I have to think about it better)
"But every step I thoght of you
Every footstep only you..."-
Not even the promisse of a tragic ending can frighten him out of losing his love. He uses the memory of his lady to give him strenght and motivation to advance towards whatever terible faith.
"And every star a grain of sand"-
The sky becomes a mirroir to the universe, and the universe finds its reflection on Earth / All small things are important, and all big things are non important, and so on viceversa.
"The leavings of a dried up ocean"-
Either the ocean represents emotion, and all that's left when emotion is dead is a desert land, meaning Love is all, ant there's nothing more vital than that.
...........
"They say a city in the desert lies"-
The city is a soul which is empty, it "lies in the desert".
"The vanity of an ancient king"-
Now this is really making me think about David, but before I read that interpretation I used to think the king was refference to the keeper of the city, the owner of the soul - the person had brought it uppon himself.
"But the city lies in broken pieces"-
Broken heart?
"Where the wind howls and the vultures sing"-
The wind is emptiness, like the soul, like the heart. And vultures are scavengers, that feed of the dead. The city is dead, totally and utterly.
"These are the works of man"-
Human beings have done the murer of the soul, through their wickedness and spite (lame interpretation, I know; but bare with me).
"This is the sun of our ambition"-
It what he (Sting) intends to do; to kill... or commit suicide of the soul. Or it's all he evere expects to achive.
"With every prison blown to dust
My enemies walk free"-
He tries to cantain his "enemies", but fails, and feels surrounded by people who are against him.
....
"Although I claim dominations over all I see"-
He admits he's ambitioius...
"It means nothing to me"-
...but knows that nothing can compare to Love and being with that special someone (lame the sequel, on my part of course.)
..........
"And though you hold the keys to ruin
Of everything I see"-
He knows this Love can mean the end of him and his life and career and etc.etc.etc.
"I'm mad about you I'm mad about you"-
But he can't help being infatuated, he can't "still his beating heart".
Lol! That was long!
Anyways "words were hard to find". I don't expect it to be very precise. I mean, what does a 17 year old know about lyrichs interpretation, particulary Sting's (he's so philosofical and hard to crack).
I'm also joining to warpPhase's curiosity.
Like someone possessed.
Well you were! Don't you ever think ....
It has crossed my mind more than a few times but if by some far stretch of the imagination, you were mesmerizing ...
Me?! No way would he call me mesmerizing.
Well I couldn't have been. I was getting dragged facedown through some endless ocean of gravel.
You do love to exaggerate, don't you?
Problem is, I'm not even coming close to describing how you terrorized me
So then, terror makes you enticing? That must be it.
"Guess you think I'm crazy too, but mad mad me ..."
You knew. What a rascal!
No one will know what we are talking about.
Trust me, no one will care
Beautifully descriptive and haunting song, brought to life by his unique voice!
But it's pretty clear that in the verse about "the vanity of an ancient king," Sting is referring directly to the famous poem by the early-19th-century English Romantic poet Shelley, called "Ozymandias." (Don't forget Sting was a schoolteacher for two years before breaking out as a rock-star. Pretty much every English schoolkid would know this work.)
The point of the poem (the greatest works of the most powerful man, a king, are nothing in the face of eternity) plays into the point of the song (the singer's kingdom and works mean nothing without his lover's love).
Here's the whole poem:
Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
If you want to know more about the poem, its author, meaning, background:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
And I have never in my life
Felt more alone than I do now
Although I claim dominations over all I see
It means nothing to me
There are no victories
In all our histories, without love
I think this song is how we reach for so much in our lives which inevitably is all empty. He's lost someone he loves and has realised that she's more important than anything he has ever strived for. That LOVE - beyond all else is what life is for. Not building kingdoms for all to see.
Ambition is wrongly placed and his enemies are the desires for more wealth and materialistic obsessions.
He's realised this at the same time as he sees the profoundness of his love for someone who is no longer there. And he's missing her. Missing her to the point he feels like he may go mad.
Well...that's what I think...
Other songs I would recommend...
Sting : Fields of Gold
Jeff Buckley : Lover, You Should've Come Over
(actually ANYTHING by Jeff Buckley - go and buy the album Grace people!)