Well, first off let me say this an excellent song. I've only been listening to The Police for a few weeks and this is by far my favourite song by them. It's so atmospheric, the brooding chorus fits the song perfectly. I wish people would listen to their more intelligent songs like this one, before making the judgement that they were some simplistic rock band from the 80s...
Anyway...
It's important to remember that Sting uses the future tense throughout the song - emphasis on "I'll ". He doesn't use the past or present. This suggests that the song is a mere fantasy. I personally think it's some guy fantasising about a master-servant relationship. He uses references to Dr. Faustus and hints at the almost homoerotic relationship he shared with Mephistophilis.
At the end of the song the person in question gets so obsessed with his master that in an ironic role reversal he enslaves him and becomes the w 'master', so to speak.
Though I guess you could apply this to a lot of situations where the servant surpasses the master. Like when you leave school and become more successful than the teachers that disciplined you... heh.
Well, first off let me say this an excellent song. I've only been listening to The Police for a few weeks and this is by far my favourite song by them. It's so atmospheric, the brooding chorus fits the song perfectly. I wish people would listen to their more intelligent songs like this one, before making the judgement that they were some simplistic rock band from the 80s...
Anyway...
It's important to remember that Sting uses the future tense throughout the song - emphasis on "I'll ". He doesn't use the past or present. This suggests that the song is a mere fantasy. I personally think it's some guy fantasising about a master-servant relationship. He uses references to Dr. Faustus and hints at the almost homoerotic relationship he shared with Mephistophilis.
At the end of the song the person in question gets so obsessed with his master that in an ironic role reversal he enslaves him and becomes the w 'master', so to speak.
Though I guess you could apply this to a lot of situations where the servant surpasses the master. Like when you leave school and become more successful than the teachers that disciplined you... heh.