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.
In the empire of the senses
You're the queen of all you survey
All the cities all the nation
Everything that falls your way
There is a deeper world than this
That you don't understand
There is a deeper world that this
Tugging at your hand
Every ripple on the ocean
Every leaf on every tree
Every sand dune in the desert
Every power we never see
There is a deeper wave than this
Swelling in the world
There is a deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl
Feel it rising in the cities
Feel it sweeping over land
Over borders, over frontiers
Nothing will its power withstand
There is no deeper wave than this
Rising in the world
There is no deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl
All the bloodshed all the anger
All the weapons all the greed
All the armies all the missiles
All the symbols of that fear
There is a deeper wave than this
Rising in the world
There is a deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl
At the still point of destruction
At the center of the fury
All the angels all the devils
All around us can't you see
There is a deeper wave than this
Rising in the land
There is a deeper wave than this
Nothing will withstand
I say love is the seventh wave
You're the queen of all you survey
All the cities all the nation
Everything that falls your way
There is a deeper world than this
That you don't understand
There is a deeper world that this
Tugging at your hand
Every ripple on the ocean
Every leaf on every tree
Every sand dune in the desert
Every power we never see
There is a deeper wave than this
Swelling in the world
There is a deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl
Feel it rising in the cities
Feel it sweeping over land
Over borders, over frontiers
Nothing will its power withstand
There is no deeper wave than this
Rising in the world
There is no deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl
All the bloodshed all the anger
All the weapons all the greed
All the armies all the missiles
All the symbols of that fear
There is a deeper wave than this
Rising in the world
There is a deeper wave than this
Listen to me girl
At the still point of destruction
At the center of the fury
All the angels all the devils
All around us can't you see
There is a deeper wave than this
Rising in the land
There is a deeper wave than this
Nothing will withstand
I say love is the seventh wave
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This song refers to the popular saying among surfers and sailors, that if you stay on the beach and watch the waves, the seventh one will always be the strongest. Sting actually said that he wrote the song after a bunch of surfers told him that. He also said the World is now caught in the middle of a sixth wave of violance and that the seventh wave is supposed to end all that. Very optimistic song.
Sweet Athena, grant her peace. She seems to have a pretty long lease--across the Great Divide's dark line--our mistress of the matchless mind.
[Sting]: Love is the Seventh Wave (1985) was written in Barbados. I was at Eddy Grant's studio, watching the surfers, and they told me that the seventh wave was the strongest wave: they get stronger and stronger until the seventh wave, then start again. So the idea of love being the strongest wave that would encompass everything in a destructive, apocalyptic way was an appealing one at the time. At the end I sing "Every cake you bake, every leg you break". I quite like using the songs as a modular system where you can mix and match lines from different songs. It's a tradition now. People expect it. Basically, it's all one big song. You could say it was an aspect of postmodernism if you liked, but you'd be called pretentious if you said that. It's just something that amuses me
At the end of the song Sting adds the following lyrics taken from "Every Breath You Take."
Every ripple on the ocean Every leaf on every tree Every sand dune in the desert Every breath you take with me Every breath you take Every move you make Every cake you bake Every leg you break
He's comforting a special girl, who is quite worried about all the bad things that has happened to this world. He's showing to her that love is the most powerful wave and it's really able to make everything becomes better if you close your mind to all these troubles and open it exclusively to the true love that is all around us.
In the empire of the senses You're the queen of all you survey All the cities all the nations Everything that falls your way "There is a deeper world than this That you don't understand There is a deeper world that this Tugging at your hand"
I think Sting made a reference to the British imperialism. He's using it for showing how small all this power is when it's forced to face love, a feeling that the 'Queen' cannot see with her endless ambition. In this world she is the queen, but all her power is useless in the world of love.
Hmmm... I've been considered that maybe girl=queen on these lyrics. I mean maybe the girl represents all of those men/women that own some kind of military power and he's simply giving an advice to 'her' for letting love leads her acts and not her blind ambition.
It is strange that some nations think that ninth wave is the strongest one. Maybe it depends? Can waves be different in different parts of the World?
I've always associated this song with Rachel from the Animorphs series... don't ask me why. Regardless, its an asweome song. My mom's ringtone... hehehehe
One may think Sting intended (veiledly) to send a message of love to Margaret Thatcher - the very controversial and very arrogant Prime Minister of Great Britain during the 1980s. She would be the figure of a bossy woman who pretentiously want to control everything and everyone around her described in the line "In the empire of the senses / You're the queen of all you survey / All the cities all the nation / Everything that falls your way".