"Hauling on frozen ropes for all my days remaining" is Sting's summation of the life of a Newcastle laborer. "What else is there for a shipbuilder's son? A new ship to be built. New work to be done."
This is an entirely next level concept album. Nothing like it before; maybe since?
I'm confident that the "ship without coals" is this same dream one from Wild Wild Sea:
I saw it again this evening,
Black sail in a pale yellow sky
And just as before in a moment,
It was gone where the grey gulls fly
If it happens again I shall worry
That only a strange ship could fly
And my sanity scans the horizon
In the light of the darkening sky.
...the Strange (i.e. wyrd, magic) Ship doesn't run on coal; it is the ferry into a distinctly (given the level of disdain with modern organized religion expressed throughout this album) pagan vision of communion with the soul of his father (who speaks derisively about the meager comforts christianity offers the meek of the world in the following track All This Time:
Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth
Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle.
As these words are spoken I swear I hear
the Old Man laughing:
"What good is a used up world and how could it be worth having?"
These markedly different approaches in style and viewpoint and biographical timeline make the narrative theme all the more delightful to me when woven together so skillfully.
When The Angels Fall is the most direct key to the theme (though deeply prosaic). I think of it as the kernel of the larger sentiment:
These are my feet
These are my hands
These are my children
And this is my demand
Bring down the angels
Cast them from my sight
I never want to see
A million suns at midnight
Your hands are empty
The streets are empty
You can't control us
You can't control us anymore
"Hauling on frozen ropes for all my days remaining" is Sting's summation of the life of a Newcastle laborer. "What else is there for a shipbuilder's son? A new ship to be built. New work to be done."
This is an entirely next level concept album. Nothing like it before; maybe since? I'm confident that the "ship without coals" is this same dream one from Wild Wild Sea:
I saw it again this evening, Black sail in a pale yellow sky And just as before in a moment, It was gone where the grey gulls fly If it happens again I shall worry That only a strange ship could fly And my sanity scans the horizon In the light of the darkening sky.
...the Strange (i.e. wyrd, magic) Ship doesn't run on coal; it is the ferry into a distinctly (given the level of disdain with modern organized religion expressed throughout this album) pagan vision of communion with the soul of his father (who speaks derisively about the meager comforts christianity offers the meek of the world in the following track All This Time:
Blessed are the poor, for they shall inherit the earth Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle.
As these words are spoken I swear I hear the Old Man laughing: "What good is a used up world and how could it be worth having?"
These markedly different approaches in style and viewpoint and biographical timeline make the narrative theme all the more delightful to me when woven together so skillfully. When The Angels Fall is the most direct key to the theme (though deeply prosaic). I think of it as the kernel of the larger sentiment:
These are my feet These are my hands These are my children And this is my demand Bring down the angels Cast them from my sight I never want to see A million suns at midnight
Your hands are empty The streets are empty You can't control us You can't control us anymore
🫀