STING "Ten Summoners's Tales"

STING

Ten Summoner's Tales

1. PROLOGUE
(If I Ever Lose My Faith In You)

You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do
Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people of TV
You could say I'd lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do
I could be lost inside their lies without a trace
But every time I close my eyes I see your face
I never saw no miracle of science
That didn't go from a blessing to a curse
I never saw no military solution
That didn't always end up as something worse but
Let me say this first
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do

2. LOVE IS STRONGER THAN JUSTICE
(The Munificent Seven)

This is a story of seven brothers
We had the same father but different mothers
We keep together like a family should
Roaming the country for the common good
It came to pass one fateful day
We found ourselves down Mexico way
The town, the mayor, the P.T.A.
Pleading on their knees with us all to stay
We'd only stopped for a new burritos
But they told us of the trouble with los banditos
A poor little town in need if aid
My brothers and me had never been afraid
The age of chivalry is not dead
Lonesome nights in a cowboy bed
There'd be a bride for every man
Who chased away the evil gang
Love is stronger than justice
Love is thicker than blood
Love is stronger than justice
Love is big fat river in flood
The outcome was predictable
Our banditos were despicable
Of blood we lost a dozen litres
A small price to pay for las senoritas
The town mayor was happy but his face was glum
The maidens numbered only one
But there weren't seven brides for seven brothers
I knew I had to get rid of the others
Love is stronger than justice
Love is thicker than blood
Love is stronger than justice
Love is a big fat river in flood
Mother told me I was the clever one
The seventh son of a seventh son
It all ended so happily
I settled down with the family
I look forward to a better day
But ethical stuff never got in my way
And though there used to be brothers seven
The other six are singing in heaven
Love is stronger than justice
Love is thicker than blood
Love is stronger justice
Love is a big fat river in flood

3. FIELDS OF GOLD

You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold
So she took her love
For to gaze awhile
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold
Will you stay with me will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold
See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold
I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold
Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold

4. HEAVY CLOUD NO RAIN

Turned on the weather man just after the news
I needed sweet rain to wash away my blues
He looked at the chart but he look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain
Back in the time with Louis XVI
At the court of the people he was number one
He'd be the bluest blood they'd ever seen
When the king said hi to the guillotine
The royal astrologer was run out of breath
He thought that maybe the rain would postpone his death
He look in the sky but he look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain
Well the land was cracking and the river was dry
All the crops were dying when they ought to be high
So to save his farm from the banker's draft
The farmer took out a book on some old witchcraft
He made a spell and a potion on a midsummer's night
He killed a brindled calf in the pale of moonlight
He prayed to the sky but he prayed in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain
heavy cloud but no rain
The sun won't shine till the clouds are gone
The clouds won't go till their work is done
And every morning you'll hear me pray
If only it would rain today
I asked my baby if there'd be some way
She said she'd save her love for a rainy day
I look in the sky but I look in vain
Heavy cloud but no rain

5. SHE'S TOO GOOD FOR ME

She don't like to hear me sing
She don't want no diamond ring
she don't want to drive my car
She won't let me go that far
She don't like the way I look
She don't like the things I cook
She don't like the way I play
She don't like the things I say
But oh the games we play
She's too good for me
She's too good for me
She don't like the jokes I make
She don't like the drugs I take
She don't like the friends I got
She don't like my friends a lot
She don't like the clothes I wear
She don't like the way I stare
She don't like the tales I tell
She don't like the way I smell
But oh the games we play
She's too good for me
She's too good for me
Would she prefer it if I washed myself more often than I do
Would she prefer it if I took her to an opera or two
I could distort myself to be the perfect man
She might prefer me as I am
She don't want to meet my folks
She don't want to hear my jokes
She don't want to fix my tie
She don't even want to try
She don't like the books I read
She don't like the way I feed
She don't want to save my life
She don't want to be my wife
But oh the games we play
She's too good for me
She's too good for me

6. SEVEN DAYS

"Seven days" was all she wrote
A kind of ultimatum note
She gave to me, she gave to me
When I thought the field had cleared
It seems another suit appeared
To challenge me, woe is me
Though I hate to make a choice
My options are decreasing mostly rapidly
Well we'll see
I don't think she'd bluff this time
I really have to make her mine
It's plain to see
It's him or me
Monday, I could wait till Tuesday
If I make up my mind
Wednesday would be fine, Thursday's on my mind
Friday'd give me time, Saturday could wait
But Sunday'd be too late
The fact he's over six feet ten
Might instill fear in other man
But not in me, The Mighty Flea (flee?)
Ask if I am mouse or man
The mirror squeaked, away I ran
He'll murder me in time for his tea
Does it bother me at all
My rival is Neanderthal it makes me think
Perhaps I need a drink
IQ is no problem here
We won't be playing scrabble for her hand I fear
I need that beer
Monday, I could wait till Tuesday
If I make up my mind
Wednesday would be fine, Thursday's on my mind
Friday'd give me time, Saturday could wait
But Sunday'd be too late
Seven days will quickly go
The fact remains, I love he so
Seven days, so many ways
But I can't run away
Monday, I could wait till Tuesday
If I make up my mind
Wednesday would be fine, Thursday's on my mind
Friday'd give me time, Saturday could wait
But Sunday'd be too late
Do I have to tell a story
Of a thousand rainy days since we first met
It's a big enough umbrella
But it's always me that ends up getting wet

7. SAINT AUGUSTINE IN HELL

If somebody up there likes me somebody up there cares
Deliver me from evil save me from these wicked snares
Not into temptation, not to cliffs of fall
On to revelation, and lesson for us all
She walked into the room on the arm of my best friend
I knew whatever happened our friendship would end
Chemical reaction, desire at first sight
Mystical attraction, turned out all my lights
The minute I saw her face the second I caught her eye
The minute I touched the flame I knew it would never die
The minute I saw her face the second I caught her eye
The minute I touched the flame I knew it would never die
Blessed St.Theresa the whore of Babylon
Madonna and my mother all rolled into one
You've got to understand me, I'm not a piece of wood
Francis of Assisi could never be this good
I don't want if it's pain or pleasure that I seek
My flesh was all too willing, my spirit guide was weak
I was deadly certain his thoughts for me weren't kind
A switchblade in his pocket, murder on his mind
Relax, have a cigar, make yourself at home.
Hell is full of high court judges, failed saints
We've got Cardinals, Archbishops, barristers,
Certified accountants, music critics, they're all here.
You're not alone, you're never alone, not here you're not.
OK break's over
The less I need the more I get
Make me chaste but not just yet
It's apromise or a lie I'll repend before I die
The minute I saw her face the second I caught her eye
The minute I touched the flame I knew it would never die
The minute I saw her face the second I caught her eye
The minute I touched the flame I knew it would never die

8. IT'S PROBABLY ME

If the night turned cold and the stars looked down
And you hug yourself on the cold cold ground
You wake the morning in a stranger's coat
No one would you see
You ask yourself, who'd watch for me
My only friend, who could it be
It's hard to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me
When your belly's empty and the hunger's so real
And you're too proud to beg and too dumb to steal
You search the city for your only friend
No one would you see
You ask yourself, who could it be
A solitary voice to speak out and set you free
I hate to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me
You're not the easiest person I ever got to know
And it's hard for us both to let our feelings show
Some would say I should let you go your way
You'll only make me cry
If there's one guy, just one guy
Who'd lay down his life for you and die
It's hard to say it
It's hard to say it, but it's probably me
When the world's gone crazy and it makes no sense
There's only one voice that comes to your defence
The jury's out and your eyes search the room
And one friendly face is all you need to see
If there's one guy, just one guy
Who'd lay down his life for you and die
It's hard to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me
I hate to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me

9. EVERYBODY LAUGHED BUT YOU

Everybody laughed when I told them
I wanted you I wanted you
Everybody grinned theu humored me
They thought that someone had spiked my tea
Everybody screamed they told me you
Would cost the moon we'll be there soon
Everybody laughed till they were blue
They didn't believe my words were true
Everybody laughed but you
It's easy to lose touch with all the friends
You like so much or liked so much
Everybody laughed they couldn't take me seriously
Abandoned me
Sometimes I would read of things they'd done in magazines
They made the scene
Everybody left with such important things to do
But I'm not blue
Everybody left but you
Everybody left but you
Many years have passed
And some have fallen by the way I heard them say
Everybody dreamed but those who fell
Are sleeping now, they're sleeping now
Everybody climbed like ivy to the top most branch
It was their chance
Everybody grasped till they were through
It's all they thought that they could do
Cause everybody fell
Everybody fell
Everybody fell but you

10. SHAPE OF MY HEART

He deals the cards as a meditation
And those he plays never suspect
He doesn't play for the money he wins
He doesn't play for respect
He deals the cards to find the answer
The sacred geometry of chance
The hidden law of a probable outcome
The numbers lead a dance
I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
He may play the jack of diamonds
He may lay the queen of spades
He may conceal a king in his hand
While the memory of it fades
I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart
And if I told you that I loved you
You'd maybe think there's something wrong
I'm not a man of too many faces
The mask I wear is one
Those who speak know nothing
And find out the their cost
Like those who curse their luck in too many places
And those who smile are lost
I know that the spades are swords of a soldier
I know that the clubs are weapons of war
I know that diamonds mean money for this art
But that's not the shape of my heart

11. SOMETHING THE BOY SAID

When we set out on this journey
There were no doubts in our minds
We set out eyes to the distance
We would find what we would find
We took courage from our numbers
What we sought we did not fear
Sometimes we'd glimpse a shadow falling
The shadow would disappear
But our thoughts kept returning
To something the boy said
As we turned to go
He said you'll never see our faces again
You'll be food for a carrion crow
Every step we took today
Our thoughts would always stray
From the wind on the moor so wild
To the words of teh captain's child
Something the boy said
In the circles we made with our fires
We talked of the pale afternoon
The clouds were like dark riders
Flying on the face of the moon
We spoke our fears to the captain
And asked what his sun could know
For we would never have marched so far
To be food for a crow
Every step we took today
Our thoughts would always stray
From the wind on the moor so wild
To the words of the captain's child
Something the boy said
When I awoke this morning
The sun's eye was red as blood
The stench of burning corpses
Faces in the mud
Am I dead or am I living?
I'm too afraid to care, I'm too afraid to know
I'm too afraid to look behind me
At the feast of the crow
We spoke our fears to the captain
And asked what his son could know
For we would never have marched so far
To be food for a crow

12. EPILOGUE (NOTHING 'BOUT ME)

Lay my head on the surgeon's table
Take me fingerprints if you are able
Pick my brain, pick my pockets
Steal my eyeballs and come bakc for the sockets
Run every kind of test from A to Z
And you'll still know nothing 'bout me
Run my name through your computer
Mention me in passing to your college tutor
Check my records, check my facts
Check if I paid my income tax
Pore over everything in my C.V.
But you'll still know nothing 'bout me
You'll still know nothing 'bout me
You don't need to read no books on my history
I'm a simple man, it's no big mystery
In the cold weather, a hand needs a glove
At times like this, a lonely man like me needs love
Search my house with a fine tooth comb
Turn over everything 'cause I won't be at home
Set up your microscope and tell me what you see
You'll still know nothing 'bout me