[ ]   [ ]   [ ]                        [ ]      [ ]   [ ]
Sting — All This Time
Album: The Soul Cages
Avg rating:
7.2

Your rating:
Total ratings: 631








Released: 1991
Length: 4:46
Plays (last 30 days): 0
They've stolen the moon
The magic is gone
And there in its place
A black midnight sun
The darkness is frightening
And love is denied
They've stolen the moon
God only knows why
The stars have lost their daughter
The devil's thieves have won
And there in her place
A black midnight sun


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 'rounf
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 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)
Comments (7)add comment
Sting Does Dylan! With a really cheezy, annoying snare drum. (If you're gonna put the drum so far up front, at least do a little something interesting with it.)
Sting at his most lyrical and philosophical, from a largely forgotten and underrated album. A meditation on grief and loss, which made an impression on me as I was dealing with this stuff myself at the time of its release.
 Sofa_King wrote:
I love the snare drum in this song, it's so pronounced


His new offerings are excellent, well worth a listen.
"All This Time"

I looked out across
The river today
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower
Where the seagulls play
I saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
I saw two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter's night

And 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
Fussing and flapping in priestly black
Like a murder of crows

And 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 a fat man in the eye of a needle
And as these words were spoken I swore I hear
The old man laughing
'What good is a used up world and how could it be
Worth having'

And all this time the river flowed
Endlessly like a silent tear

And all this time the river flowed

Father, if Jesus exists
Then how come he never lived here
The teachers told us, the Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple, 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

And all this time the river flowed
In the falling light of a northern sun
If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
But they only get better

One by one
One by one
I love the snare drum in this song, it's so pronounced
I spent about an hour on Saturday listening to Sting while watching the birds and squirrels in my garden. He's a heck of a musician.
Wow, surprised this hasn't been played before.  What a wonderful song.  Thank you RP