Why Should I Cry For You?

Well that isnt a bad guess. The song is about sailing and its not. If you take it literally it could mean that because of a lost love hes taken to the lonely life as a sailor to kill the pain. What I think the song is about is hurting from a lost love, and the sailing reference is a brilliant use of words to denote lonlieness and struggle. The Dog Star or Sirius is the brightest star in the Northern Hemisphere, and was often used in navigation. Many Sailors coined a term "Chasing the Dog Star" as meaning to navigate by means of Sirius. Chasing the Dog Star can also mean chasing an unattainable goal. Sting could be referencing this as it being impossible to get rid of his hurt, though he tries with all his might. "North Northwest the Stones of Faroe, is a direct reference to the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic, but once again it would seem that sting is referencing lonliness like he is in general with the Ocean, and possibly desolation, since the Faroes are a very out of the way desolate place. The other sailing references "hauling on frozen ropes for all my days remaining" is another metaphor meaning an unpleasant struggle that he cant ever see himself completing.

"All colors bleed to red Asleep on the ocean's bed Drifting in empty seas For all my days remaining"

This is another reference to lonlieness and pain. Sting could be saying that when everything bleeds to red, everything is becoming a blur, and that it leaves him numb and hence "asleep" or just going through the motions, drifting in his lonliness forever.

But would north be true? Why should I? Why should I cry for you? Dark angels follow me Over a godless sea Mountains of endless falling, For all my days remaining,

This next part Sting is saying to himself If I had done things differently could things have been different. Then he is expressing emotions of possibly anger, by saying why should I cry for you, when you rejected me? Possibly even a little bit of depair, as in saying what is the point of it all. He is haunted by these Demons "Dark Angels" and he may even be feeling like God is against him, or at least the fates. He is a lost man for eternity.

"Sometimes I see your face, The stars seem to lose their place Why must I think of you? Why must I? Why should I? Why should I cry for you? Why would you want me to? And what would it mean to say, That, I loved you in my fashion"?

Sting is saying that the memories are so painful, and that his love is so great for them that nothing else matters. He then goes on to ask himself why he has to torture himself like this, especially when they have moved on with their life. Finally he is saying I loved you the best way I knew how, why wasnt that good enough?

This is one of my favorite songs from Sting. I think the lyrics and dreamy music mix perfectly to make a hauntingly brilliant song, guaranteed to hit anyone in the gut who has really experienced a trully heartbreaking end to a romance.

Once again Sting wrote a real poem. The lyrics alone can bring tears to your eyes (and even more so if you know under which circumstances the song was written)!

What I find interesting and what hasn't been mentioned yet: I think we agree that the sea in general and the North Atlantic here in particular are symbols of sadness and loneliness. Then I would translate the "Would north be true?" line as "Am I right in (re-)acting that way, feeling sad and lonely all the time? Doesn't life go on? Was the person I lost worth all this?"

It seems to me his head is telling him to go on and look forward but his heart just can't because there are still too many sad emotions.

Oh, one more thing: Why is he saying "North North West" instead of just "North" or "North West"? As Sting seems to like quoting Shakespeare, do you think he's refering to the famous Hamlet quote ("I am but mad north-north-west, when the wind is southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw")? It could be a hint that he's temporarily mad, caused by all the pain he's going through.

Ok, sailing as a metaphor. It's really not an uncommon literary theme. The wanderer, the sea-farer, searching, alone, out on the cold, impersonal seas. It's NOT about sailing. It is about love lost. Could be a lover that died or merely a relationship that ended which he still longs for. Both interpretations can apply. Well, as long as it isn't taken so literally.

i think lordfinx had a fantastic breakdown of the song. To add, regarding the verses: "Sometimes I see your face, The stars seem to lose their place Why must I think of you?"

Maybe it's a reference to why he's alone and a bit lost. He speaks of "why would North be True?" before, as if that's his navigation with the Dog Star. Then he mentions when he see's this person's face the stars seem to lose their place, maybe North really isn't truw, as if he loses his focus and where he's going (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually?) when it comes to this person. Things stop making sense which is a lot of what someone feels when they lose someone whether it's a loss in death or a loss of a love.

What i find very interesting, and this may be delving too deep, is that The Dog Star has a companion star, they perpetually revolve around eachother....

Why should I cry for you when I'm the one who has to keep on living this tortured life? The dead should be crying for us.

Why should I? Why should I cry for you? Dark angels follow me Over a godless sea Mountains of endless falling, For all my days remaining,

I love this song though I haven't listened it for a while, like several years. Just right after the death of love of my life a month ago, I heard it again through radio.

I never said I love him though I fell in love with him 20 years ago. And I knew I'd never say it to him or to anyone. But I also knew that I love him until I die. Only imagined was that when I die, I die with this love in my heart. I never had this concrete feeling over anything in my life.

Now I'm lost and drift towards unknown, rest of my life. No matter what Sting meant, this song is completely my feelings towards him now and ever.

"Would north be true?"

Its a brilliant reference. Anyone that has had to rely on a compass for navigation has had this question cross their mind at some point. You follow the compass and you have to trust it, which is sometimes hard to do. You think magnetic north is holding true, but is it really??? Maybe the compass became unleveled, maybe the needle got stuck, maybe there's magnetic interference, you just don't know. All you can do is stick to your bearings and hope you are heading in the right direction, not drifing farther away. And this question keeps popping up in your mind.

A metaphor, I think, for being lost, not really knowing where to go but hanging on to that glimmer of light that leads the way in hope it will deliver us home. And you hold on to that shimmering light because that's all you have got.

Sting had a strained relationship with his father. He wrote this song about that. The reference to sailing is picking up on a comment by his father, that he should go to sea, maybe reflecting his fathers own regret that he didn't adventure. The song is poignant to me because of my own relationship with my father.

Not my favorite, musically, but the song and music are still touching. I wonder what it means?

My first thought is that it's about a man who's sort of "exiled" himself to work on a fishing boat in the North Atlantic. Or maybe about the Flying Dutchman. Or maybe about Truth. It seems that he's left some loved one behind.

I dont really think that this song is about a lover dying because of the references. Why shoud I cry for you, and especially when he says loved you in my fashion. To me that means he was rejected.