In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Be still my beating heart
It would be better to be cool
It's not time to be open just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget
Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Be still my beating heart
You must learn to stand your ground
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Never to be wrong
Never to make promises that break
It's like singing in the wind
Or writing on the surface of a lake
And I wriggle like a fish caught on dry land
Struggle to avoid any help at hand
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
It would be better to be cool
It's not time to be open just yet
A lesson once learned is so hard to forget
Be still my beating heart
Or I'll be taken for a fool
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Be still my beating heart
You must learn to stand your ground
It's not healthy to run at this pace
The blood runs so red to my face
I've been to every single book I know
To soothe the thoughts that plague me so
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
Never to be wrong
Never to make promises that break
It's like singing in the wind
Or writing on the surface of a lake
And I wriggle like a fish caught on dry land
Struggle to avoid any help at hand
I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean
My logic has drowned in a sea of emotion
Stop before you start
Be still my beating heart
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This song reminds me of a girl that is perfect which I couldn't have. I met her in real life and it was confusing. She was getting married when I met her yet I felt very close to her. So I tell myself, "Be Still my Beating heart".
@King Aragorn Do you happen to know if she is still married all these years later?
To me, this song is about having feelings for a person, but not knowing if they are mutual. It is about falling in love, while fearing a painful rejection.
I don't know who came up withthis expresion, but every once in a while you can hear people saying "be still my beating heart", using it as a saying. And everyone thinks of Sting. He might just have influenced the English language!
My wrong. Sting didn't come up with this expresion. It was a romantic female poet of the late 19th century, called Mary Elizabeth Coleridge. I found the poem in question too. It's called 'All One'
"Be still, my beating heart, be still! There is no hope for thee to-night. The fading of the wintry light Has made a blackness of the hill.
Be still, be still, my beating heart! For thee to-night there is no fear. The moon has risen white and clear, And we shall neither meet nor part."
Looks like he realy liked this poem :)
OK, I promisse not to post at this song again, but I couldn't pass this out: I was just at Sting.com, and guess what "quote of the day" was on?
"'Be Still My Beating Heart' is about trying to suppress emotion and trying to deny what's going on in your emotional life for the sake of your sanity. It's a very uptight song, but again some people thought it was very romantic. I don't think it's romantic. It's just the opposite of romantic."
Well, there you have it. I AM SO SORY! I promisse not to bother you again! I'm out. lol
I’ve always liked this song and I think it deals with how infatuation can have its way with you. The heart beats faster—it’s an effort to keep cool and not look too interested. The feelings may not be mutual. I could be taken for a fool. And books do offer advice but infatuation can easily make common sense impossible.
In infatuation, we lose control, our emotions mow down our logic and if we’ve been through this before, our cautious hearts do say, please stop before we start. I don’t want this to be a roller coaster rides.
He mentions how impossible it can be to deal with the power infatuation can exert—comparing it to the difficulty of always being right, never breaking promises, singing in the wind, etc. And yet infatuation has the upper hand—being so tantalizing we can squirm like a fish out of water, while fighting furiously to not be tossed back in.
It is a romantic song in many ways. An infatuation is an object of extravagant short-lived passion.
Looking back to see when this was released and wondering when he wrote his new-romance-Trudie-songs and also if he ever wrote about the difficult dilemma of loving two women but being infatuated much more so with one, I'm guessing that here he writes about the conflicting emotions he was feeling. And his heart won.
[Sting]: "Be Still My beating Heart" is a phrase I think I stole from Shakespeare although I've no idea from which play. When I was writing that song I was in love, and I'm still in love, which is nice.
SPIN: Did you intend 'Be Still My Beating Heart' to be a musical representation of what you were going through emotionally during all this? [When your mother died …]
STING: Yeah, I think that song is a good example to take. This as one of the songs that was "dead." But what I wanted from the song all along was not performances, not emotion. I really wanted this layer, just like a river, just loping along. Anything that stood out, like a drum beat or a guitar lick, I'd take off - anything that jumps out isn't there. I wanted this kind of tension because the song is about not wanting to lose emotional control. And that is emotional in itself - the desire to hold your emotions in is very engaging
I consider this as one of the most beautiful songs ever written! (Especially the lines "I sink like a stone that's been thrown in the ocean, my logic has drowned in a sea of emotions" - awwwww, so beautiful)
It's often said that Sting is a little control freak and in this song I can really picture him, trying to keep his heart under control but it doesn't work out.