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Oct 12th!⃝Sting had recently separated from his first wife, and on a trip to Jamaica, he noticed a black spot on the sun. He remarked that, "That's my soul up there." He was struck by his own words and went inside to write it down, as well as other parts of the lyrics.
Each line of the verses is used as semi-ironic symbolism of the dark nature of his soul after the divorce. Ex. He feels like, "a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop," or, "a butterfly trapped in a spider's web. The line, "There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out," is a direct reference to the tragedy of King Oedipus, by Sophocles, who gouged his own eyes out after discovering that he had slept with his mother. This reference to destiny is what is communicated in the chorus as he begs for relief, but relents under the depressive thought that he will forever be the king of pain.
