I lived next to a shipyard when I was young and it was a very powerful image of this huge ship towering above the house. Tapping into that was a godsend – I began with that and the album just flowed. – Sting
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner (b. 10/2/51,) known as Sting, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, activist, and actor. He was the frontman, principal songwriter and bassist for the rock band The Police from 1977 until their breakup in 1986. He launched a solo career in 1985 and has included elements of rock, jazz, reggae, classical, new-age, and worldbeat in his music.
I knew radio hits of The Police, had their album (in cassette form) of Synchronicity but that’s about as much as I knew of them. I came into Sting when he went solo, with, “Dream of the Blue Turtles,” (1985) which confirmed me as a big fan. I also loved watching Sting’s videos on MTV, where at least 4 of the singles had videos. “… Nothing Like The Sun” (1987) is another album I wore the grooves off of. “The Soul Cages” (1991) is the song, “All This Time” is from. I also listened to this album a lot, but not quite as much as the first two. It’s still a damfine album.
The Soul Cages is a concept album focused on the death of Sting’s father. Sting had developed writer’s block shortly after his father’s death in 1987; the episode lasted several years, until he was able to overcome his affliction by dealing with the death of his father through music. Most of the songs have motifs related to sailing or the seas; Sting wrote in his autobiography, Broken Music, that his father had always regretted not becoming a sailor. There are also references to Newcastle, the part of England where Sting grew up.
It’s about the death of my father, so it’s pretty dark as a record but on this song the words are foiled by this fairly jolly tune. That’s something I like to do quite a lot, combine dark subject matter with up music. No, it’s not based on a dream. The lyrics seem surreal, but they are all images I remembered from my home town: ferries, priests, shire horses. I grew up by the shipyards. I just wanted to escape. I suppose it was quite a surreal place, though. It is the landscape of my dreams. — Sting, Independent On Sunday, 11/94
“All This Time” is the 2nd track on side 1.
Musicians on the album:
Sting – vocals, Synclavier, mandolin, bass, arrangements
Kenny Kirkland – keyboards
David Sancious – keyboards
Dominic Miller – guitars
Manu Katché – drums
Skip Burney – percussion
Ray Cooper – percussion
Munyungo Jackson – percussion
Vinx De’Jon Parrette – percussion
Bill Summers – percussion
Tony Vacca – percussion
Branford Marsalis – saxophones
Paola Paparelle – oboe
Kathryn Tickell – Northumbrian smallpipes
All This Time
I looked out across
The river today
Saw a city in the fog
and an old church town where the seagulls play
Saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
Two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter’s night
All this time
The river flowed
Endlessly
To the sea
Two priests came ’round
Our house tonight
One young, one old
To offer prayers for the dying
to serve the final rite
One to learn, one to teach
Which way the cold wind blows
And fussing and flapping in priestly black
Like a murder of crows
All this time
The river flowed
Endlessly
To the sea
If I had my way
I’d take a boat from the river
And I’d bury the old man
I’d bury him at sea
Blessed are the poor
For they shall inherit the Earth
Better to be poor than
be a fat man in the eye of a needle
As these words were spoken I swear
I hear the old man laughing
“What good is a used up world,
and how could it be worth having?”
All this time
The river flowed
Endlessly
Like a silent tear
All this time
The river flowed
Father, if Jesus exists
Then how come he never lived here?
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Teachers told us
The Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple and an
Edge of the Empire garrison town
They lived and they died
They prayed to their Gods
But the stone Gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled, ’til all that was left
Were the stones the workmen found
All this time
The river flowed
In the falling light
Of a Northern sun
If I had my way
Take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
They only get better one by one
Yeah, yeah (one by one)
Yeah, yeah (one by one)
Yeah, yeah (one by one)
Yeah, yeah (I looked out across)
Yeah, yeah (The river today)
Yeah, yeah (Saw a city in the fog and an old church town)
Yeah, yeah (Where the seagulls play)
Yeah, yeah (Saw the sad shire horses walking home)
Yeah, yeah (In the sodium light)
Yeah, yeah (Two priests on the ferry)
Yeah, yeah (October geese on a cold winter’s night)
Written by: Gordon Matthew Sumner
Album: The Soul Cages
Released: 1991
Source of info and images wikipedia
Glyn is the host of Mixed Music Bag. October is the month we are looking for.
Tao Talk 
I love sting! Every breath you take is my favourite song of stings, xo
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That’s a good one (even though reminds me of a stalker) Sting’s a talented songwriter, musician, and actor. Not too bad on the eyes either :)
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Good song choice, Lisa. Did you see when Sting performed with Billy Joel at Joel’s final MSG show? He sang “Big Man on Mulberry Street” which was fabulous. He looked really good, too.
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Thanks, Nancy. No, I didn’t but now I need to. Thanks for the heads-up. He always looks good! Yummy even.
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Just watched it. Friggin fantastic! For those who haven’t seen it:
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For the performance at Billy’s final MSG show, Sting was wearing a light gray suit and looked very sexy suave. Billy’s band is fantastic and he’s killing it on the piano. Such a great song.
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Oh, I guess this isn’t the final performance then. This one works fine. Maybe he didn’t have to use the teleprompter on the last one?
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This one?
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Looks like it!
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:)
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This took me back to my own encounter with the police and Sting. Also – cassette tapes, that was the thing, and making mix tapes :)
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Oh, please do tell :) Now we make CD mixes, or streaming playlists.
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What a brilliant write up! I have always loved Sting- and this song too- but never knew what his inspiration was. Thankyou!
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I vaguely remembered and membanks were refreshed doing this post. Sting is such a talented guy that is sometimes underrated imo. You are welcome and thanks!
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Great post on a great artist. Lisa. This post made me go back and specifically listen to his “Fortress Around Your Heart” today. Man, do I love that song. A great solo and band career, and not everyone who attempts that pulls it off, certainly not as well as he has.
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Thanks, Bruce. I love that song also and used to sing it like a mantra. He’s done several political songs that I admire him for also.
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I have all the Police albums (and singles) but for some reason I didn’t follow Sting after the band broke up. I’m hearing several tracks of his lately and they are all pretty good.
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Glyn they were a good band that had a lot of hits playing on the radio, so I understand why you have The Police discography. How many albums did they make?
After Bruce’s comment, I put Dream of the Blue Turtles in the external drive CD player and have Nothing Like the Sun ready to go. Both of these — and Soul Cages — are worth a listen. I also have Ten Summoner’s Tales but haven’t listened to it much, as well as 57th & 9th, Duets, My Songs, and Sting & Shaggy. You know how it goes with music, so much music, so little time.
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I believe The Police recorded six studio albums plus two live albums and several hits compilations. I’m waiting for the new Chrissie Hynde and Pals album in which will be her second ‘duets’ release.
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Glyn, I have heard 2 of Chrissie’s duets from it on release radar. One was with Brandon Flowers from The Killers and I forgot the other one. Both were good.
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Yes, that’s the one Lisa
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This is a great album and that’s a haunting song.
Do you know the album he made from his musical “The Last Ship”? It’s about family and seafaring too. The musical did not do well but I really love the music Sting wrote for it. (K)
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No, I hadn’t heard of it, even though Billy Joel said something about it on the video Nancy mentioned (but I found a wrong version.) Will look for it, thanks :)
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I think you will like it.
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