{"id":792379,"date":"2026-07-30T01:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T01:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/792379\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T01:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T01:03:12","slug":"3-sting-songs-that-were-inspired-by-his-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/792379\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Sting Songs That Were Inspired by His Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 80s, songwriter and The Police<\/a> frontman Sting went through a very public divorce from his first wife, Frances Tomelty. He would later marry her best friend, Trudie Styler, in 1992, with whom he had an affair. Here are a few songs that were inspired by his first marriage and divorce.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery Breath You Take\u201d by The Police<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

Although many people see this song as a romantic ballad about being overwatched by the one you love, Sting has many times refuted that theory.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

This song was written during a time when the singer was trying to escape the aftermath of his divorce and public scrutiny. He was staying in Jamaica and woke up one night with the idea for this song in his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s a nasty little song, really rather evil,\u201d he said<\/a> of this song in 1983. \u201cIt\u2019s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cKing Of Pain\u201d by Sting<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

This one was also written while Sting was in Jamaica to \u201ctry and pull [himself] together.\u201d It was a moment with his current wife, Styler, that inspired \u201cKing Of Pain\u201d. Styler was also with him in Jamaica, as he told Musician<\/a>, when he noticed that there was a little black spot on the sun. He thought that was kind of poetic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI turned to Trudie. \u2018There\u2019s a little black spot on the sun today.\u2019 She waited expectantly, not really indulging my mood but tolerant. \u2018That\u2019s my soul up there,\u2019 I added gratuitously. Trudie discreetly raised her eyes to the heavens. \u2018There he goes again, the king of pain.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

This song sounds like it\u2019s about Sting internally.
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running \u2019round my brain
I guess I\u2019m always hoping that you\u2019ll end this reign
But it\u2019s my destiny to be the king of pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cFortress Around Your Heart\u201d by The Police<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

The lyrics of this song, which appears on Sting\u2019s debut solo album, Dream Of The Blue Turtles, describe a relationship that has been through battles, metaphorically speaking.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fortress\u2019 is about appeasement, about trying to bridge the gaps between individuals,\u201d Sting explained to Musician<\/a>. \u201cThe central image is a minefield that you\u2019ve laid around this other person to try and protect them. Then you realize that you have to walk back through it. I think it\u2019s one of the best choruses I\u2019ve ever written.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo by: Jack Cusano\/Toronto Star via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the 80s, songwriter and The Police frontman Sting went through a very public divorce from his first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,17172,2156,21409],"class_list":["post-792379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-pop-music","tag-rock-music","tag-sting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}