Hi Stacey,
There aren't any serious articles online that discuss "When We Dance"
and what the lyrics might mean, however there have been a number of
discussions between fans within Google Groups, which are quoted below.
But first up is Sting himself, from an interview published in the
Independent On Sunday, 11/94, and quoted on his official website:
"This is basically a generic ballad, but it took me a year to write. I
had no main idea for the song, so I came up with this love triangle. I
love you and you love him. It has a flattened fifth at the end of the
first line. It's an unusual, uncomfortable sound, which suits the
situation in the lyrics..."
http://www.sting.com/store/storesin.html
alt.fan.sting
=============
These focus mainly on the wings of angels…
"and it makes adequate sense to me; jealous angels running to hide
their wings from happy dancers as if they might steal them, er
something like that..."
"My theory is that the angels will hide their wings, so as to not feel
guilty for enjoying the dancing of the lovers. I always thought, that
Sting was suggesting that their dancing wa so passionate, that the
Angels were ashamed of their holiness."
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&threadm=4k7qri%24rhe%40newsbf02.news.aol.com&rnum=1&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DISO-8859-1%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26q%3D%2522When%2BWe%2BDance%2522%26meta%3Dgroup%253Dalt.fan.sting
"I have always understood the imagery as this: the singer is singing
to this woman to say that the guy she is with now isn't nearly as good
for her as the singer is. The singer is stating that the woman and he
would make such a beautiful couple that even angels couldn't compete
with the beauty of their dancing."
"The image says that when they'll dance, the image of it will be so
beautiful that even the angels we'll be ashamed of their beauty and
will run and hide their wings so nobody will know there's something
more beautiful than angels."
"I've always intrepreted it that the angels abserving the lovers
dancing, are ashamed of their holiness. They run and hide their wings
because they long to experience the human passion they see in the
dancing couple. Does that make sense? It's as if they are
embarrassed because they know they aren't supposed to enjoy such a
sight."
"Maybe the dancing couple is so magical, spiritual, beautiful, that
the Angels run and hide their wings so that the couple won't fly off
to heaven, on the wings of the angels"
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&threadm=Pine.SUN.3.93.970425091300.7296G-100000%40discover&rnum=15&prev=/groups%3Fhl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DISO-8859-1%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26q%3D%2522When%2BWe%2BDance%2522%26meta%3Dgroup%253Dalt.fan.sting
"...he starts the whole passage with "IF I could..." sort of setting
the conditional mood of the feeling. The "IF" is still in effect in
the latter half ("cathedrals..."). He's merely saying that even if
heaven was lost and he was inches from hell, he'd still be professing
his love."
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&safe=off&threadm=19981211155908.10893.00000876%40ng-cc1.aol.com&rnum=65&prev=/groups%3Fq%3D%2522When%2BWe%2BDance%2522%2Bgroup:alt.fan.sting%26num%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26newwindow%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26start%3D60%26sa%3DN
My thoughts
===========
"The priests have said my soul's salvation
Lies in the balance of the angels
And underneath the wheels of passion
I keep the faith in my fashion"
Soul's salvation = his love of her
Underneath the wheels of passion = the pain he suffers watching her
with another man
He has loved her to the best of his ability, and it is now up to
higher forces to decide if he can be with her. Despite his pain, he
keeps loving her in his own way.
"If I could break down these walls
And shout my name at heaven's gate
I'd take these hands
And I'd destroy the dark machineries of fate,
The vehicles are broken
Heaven's the one above
Hellfire's a promise away
I'd still be saying
I'm still in love"
To me this is an extended version of a standard line used by
balladeers - "I would do anything for you". What happens between Sting
and the woman is up to the Gods, but he would rather it was up to him,
and he would do anything, even risk going to Hell, to be with her.
A book that might help
======================
A book which pays a lot of attention to the meanings of Sting's songs
is "Complete Guides to the Music of the Police & Sting" by Chris Welch
- Amazon have new and used copies.
"...Omnibus Press's CD size 'complete guides' are very popular and
this book is a belated but welcome addition to the series. Penned by
Chris Welch, an ex Melody Maker journalist this compact book includes
a brief history and examines each song on each album including Message
in a Box, and Sting's solo releases. There are also plenty of
photographs including several in colour. The narrative for each track
is, understandably, coloured by the author's view and it's obvious
that he doesn't rate Stewart and Andy's songwriting talents too
highly, but this aside the book is inexpensive and generally very good
(and it fits perfectly next to your Police and Sting CD's!). Excellent
value for money..."
http://www.sting.com/store/storeboo.html
I hope this has helped. Most singer-songwriters readily admit that
they don't really know the true meaning of their songs - it is the
interpretation of the listener that is important.
Search strategy:
"When We Dance" group:alt.fan.sting
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&newwindow=1&safe=off&q=%22When+We+Dance%22&btnG=Google+Search&meta=group%3Dalt.fan.sting
Best wishes,
robertskelton-ga |
,
0 Comments
)