Sting: All This Time Meaning
Song Released: 1991
All This Time Lyrics
The river today
I saw a city in the fog
And an old church tower
Where the seagulls play
Saw the sad shire horses
Walking home in the sodium light
Saw two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter's night
And...
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This song, like most of the songs on the "Soul Cages" album, was inspired by the recent death of Sting's father, who had been a blue collar milkman in the northern British town of Newcastle.
His father's death made Sting think about mortality, the passage of time, and the existence (or non-existence) of God. Sting recalls that Newcastle was a Roman settlement centuries ago, and observes that, when the Roman empire collapsed, their gods and idols never did anything to help them. Sting wonders if the God modern Christians believe in is any more real than the Roman pagan gods, or if he cares any more about His people than ancient Roman idols did.
Sting also remembers a Biblical passage, in which Jesus said "The meek shall inherit the Earth." He then remembers his father's cynical sense of humor, and imagines he can hear his father laughing at that sentiment.
Sting looks at Newcastle's Tyne River, realizes it has been flowing long before his birth and will still be flowing after his death, and he wonders if there's any meaning or point to life at all.
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