King Of Pain

This song is about Sting's cheating on his wife Francis and the aftermath as he's seeking forgiveness and reconciliation. They had a great marriage (this is metaphorically the "sun") but it was marred by him cheating one time with his wife's best friend (this is the "little black spot" one day). Now that it's out and they've separated, he's seeking forgiveness for the pain that he's caused her. This is why he feels like he's the "King Of Pain". But the only one who can take that away is his wife - if she forgives him - hence "ending his reign". Several other songs reference the feelings and sequelae of his initial cheating and separation/divorce - notably Every Breath You Take, If You Love Somebody, Set Them Free, and Fortress Around Your Heart.

The "flag pole rag" reminds me of "beneath that tattered flag we made" from Fortres Around Your Heart - he probable took this motif from here. Byt, anyway, I heard he once said that he viewed this song with irony. Maybe I didn't see right when I read that, cause this song always gets me "driven to tears". I wish I could interpret it more in detail (like, every verse), cause it's all one mataphore after another, but I just can't brek through what he means generally.

"There's a little black spot on the sun today That's my soul up there"

I think this is illustrating the darkness of his soul in the midst of other people's happiness (the black spot's his soul, and the sun is the joy from which it stands apart).

"There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web"

"I guess I always thought you could end this reign But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"

He thought this particular person could end his "reign" as the "king of pain" (i.e. he had hoped this person could make him happy, or at least take away his sorrow).

I think that the reason "King of Pain" is an ironic title is because when we think of kings (regal, ruling, and basically together), we do not associate them with negative experiences. Kings are praised, exalted, and sleep on "golden bed[s]", as Sting has put it. To be king of something horrible, like pain, is ironic.

It must have chopped off my comment on this part:

"There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web"

All of the things listed are trapped in conditions from which they can't escape, much like Sting is trapped in the condition of pain.

To those born with their heads laid low. To those whose vision cuts through the beautiful facade of life to its underlying pain. For every person that feels the pain of the butterfly in the spider's web or the blue whale beached by the springtide's ebb. This song is for you.

This song is for the extreme altruist that feels for all living things....and how futile life is when understanding that this pain is part of the grand scheme of things. How can you not see the black spot on the sun when it is very soul?

It's about greek predestination with a heavy reference to Oedipus Rex. It discusses the fact that, in that system of belief, no matter who you are or how hard you try, your fate is your fate, your destiny is your destiny, and even then most beautiful butterfly is trapped by a web, even a great and powerfull whale is beached by a simple ebb of the tide.

[Question]: What or who does the "King of Pain" represent?

[Sting]: Beats me. I think I was being ironic. It's now become my unofficial title.

This is not by Sting it is on The Police's Synchronicity album. Although he did write the song.

this song is so lyrically beatiful and sorrowful u can just really feel the emotion in it

hmmm. idk but i first heard of this song from my ex-boyfriends profile playlist on myspace and i think he might have meant it as his song to me, because all he ever did was cause me pain. so to me "king of pain" means he causes other people pain? idk just what i might think, or maybe i'm over-analyzing.