well, firstly, i can say that the song is not about LOTR, the priesthood, masonry, or the occult.
i must say i initially agreed with dengeist. when i first listened to the song, i thought it was about a young man in desire for an older woman, who knew he was but had given herself away in marriage.
the reference to the Scylla and Charybdis being from the oddysey is correct. its a very Sting way of saying "caught between a rock and a hard place". the young man faces to very difficult options: trying to be with a married woman, or walk away ("hypnotized by you if i should linger")
coming "seeking only knowledge" simply means, i believe, that he has heard what has happened and has come to ask her if it's true.
"seeing the destiny [she] sold" simply means that he has watched this woman who had such wonderful possibilities for a future, throw it away for a frivilous and empty relationship with this other person. the "shining band of gold" obviously being the wedding band. the wedding band he is completely captivated by forces him to deal with his emotions for her, he is, as we say, "wrapped around [her] finger"
Mephistopheles is a much more difficult allusion to define here i think, and has been perplexing me for a while now (which actually led me here). Mephistopheles is another name for the devil in many christian mythologies from the derk ages, and is also refferd to in the play 'Faust', as being satan's lead devil. i think he compares the woman to him because she is wanting to play the game of keeping both men for herself, for some reason, and will not be a part of it, though he still listens to the things she is trying to tell him: her "tuition". the "fruition" is a foreshadowing of the final chorus.
the "devil (where we can remember him comparing her to mephistopheles) being behind him", and "vanishing in thin air" means he has decided to leave her to her decision and walk away, forever. lyricists sometimes invision oceans as imagery for isolation, because they are such vast, unyielding things. thats my opinion.
and finally, she realizes the mistake she made by leaving him to marry this other person and wants the young man back: she realizes shes "wrapped around his finger"
as i said this is what i first thought, but now after researching it some, and even reading some interviews with Sting himself, he says this song was actually written in reference to a marriage breakdown with his wife, ending in a divorce. if anyone reads this and thinks i have put some thought into this, well thankyou, and please feel free to email me if you want. peace
well, firstly, i can say that the song is not about LOTR, the priesthood, masonry, or the occult.
i must say i initially agreed with dengeist. when i first listened to the song, i thought it was about a young man in desire for an older woman, who knew he was but had given herself away in marriage.
the reference to the Scylla and Charybdis being from the oddysey is correct. its a very Sting way of saying "caught between a rock and a hard place". the young man faces to very difficult options: trying to be with a married woman, or walk away ("hypnotized by you if i should linger")
coming "seeking only knowledge" simply means, i believe, that he has heard what has happened and has come to ask her if it's true.
"seeing the destiny [she] sold" simply means that he has watched this woman who had such wonderful possibilities for a future, throw it away for a frivilous and empty relationship with this other person. the "shining band of gold" obviously being the wedding band. the wedding band he is completely captivated by forces him to deal with his emotions for her, he is, as we say, "wrapped around [her] finger"
Mephistopheles is a much more difficult allusion to define here i think, and has been perplexing me for a while now (which actually led me here). Mephistopheles is another name for the devil in many christian mythologies from the derk ages, and is also refferd to in the play 'Faust', as being satan's lead devil. i think he compares the woman to him because she is wanting to play the game of keeping both men for herself, for some reason, and will not be a part of it, though he still listens to the things she is trying to tell him: her "tuition". the "fruition" is a foreshadowing of the final chorus.
the "devil (where we can remember him comparing her to mephistopheles) being behind him", and "vanishing in thin air" means he has decided to leave her to her decision and walk away, forever. lyricists sometimes invision oceans as imagery for isolation, because they are such vast, unyielding things. thats my opinion.
and finally, she realizes the mistake she made by leaving him to marry this other person and wants the young man back: she realizes shes "wrapped around his finger"
as i said this is what i first thought, but now after researching it some, and even reading some interviews with Sting himself, he says this song was actually written in reference to a marriage breakdown with his wife, ending in a divorce. if anyone reads this and thinks i have put some thought into this, well thankyou, and please feel free to email me if you want. peace