Released: September 20, 2013
Songwriter: Sting Rob Mathes
Producer: Sting Rob Mathes
[Verse 1]
When a man of my age shaves his face in the morning
Who is it that stares back and greets him?
The ghost of his father long dead all these years?
Or the boy that he was, still wet in the ears?
Or the terrible sum of all of his fears
In the eyes of this stranger who meets him?
So his glance rarely strays from his chin or his jawline
To face up to the truth of his soul
It's the eyes he avoids so afraid to acknowledge
Something strange, unexpected, out of control
There are times when a man needs to brave his reflection
And face what he sees without fear
It takes a man to accept his mortality
Or be surprised by the presence of a tear
It was only an arrangement, a practical arrangement
I forgot the first commandment of the realist's handbook
Don't be fooled by illusions you created yourself
And fall in love with someone, when she loves someone else
[Chorus]
Like a covering of snow on a winter's night
It glistens and it sparkles in the moonlight
But it's gone by the morning, how quickly it melts
You still love her but she loves someone else
[Verse 2]
And where does that leave you?
You self-styled man of vision
You feel stupid, you feel angry, are you losing your mind?
To destroy the one she loves, does that become your mission?
Like a pantomime villain with an axe to grind?
To regain your self-respect, hold your head up like a man
Use the ice around your heart before it melts
But you're not fooling anybody, you're only fooling yourself
[Chorus]
Like a covering of snow on a winter's night
It glistens and it sparkles in the moonlight
But it's gone by the morning, how quickly it melts
And still you still love her but she loves someone else
When a man of my age shaves his face in the morning
Who is it that stares back and greets him?
The ghost of his father long dead all these years?
Or the boy that he was, still wet in the ears?
Or the terrible sum of all of his fears
In the eyes of this stranger who meets him?
So his glance rarely strays from his chin or his jawline
To face up to the truth of his soul
It's the eyes he avoids so afraid to acknowledge
Something strange, unexpected, out of control
There are times when a man needs to brave his reflection
And face what he sees without fear
It takes a man to accept his mortality
Or be surprised by the presence of a tear
It was only an arrangement, a practical arrangement
I forgot the first commandment of the realist's handbook
Don't be fooled by illusions you created yourself
And fall in love with someone, when she loves someone else
[Chorus]
Like a covering of snow on a winter's night
It glistens and it sparkles in the moonlight
But it's gone by the morning, how quickly it melts
You still love her but she loves someone else
[Verse 2]
And where does that leave you?
You self-styled man of vision
You feel stupid, you feel angry, are you losing your mind?
To destroy the one she loves, does that become your mission?
Like a pantomime villain with an axe to grind?
To regain your self-respect, hold your head up like a man
Use the ice around your heart before it melts
But you're not fooling anybody, you're only fooling yourself
[Chorus]
Like a covering of snow on a winter's night
It glistens and it sparkles in the moonlight
But it's gone by the morning, how quickly it melts
And still you still love her but she loves someone else
more tracks from the album
The Last Ship
- The Last Ship
- Peggy’s Song
- Jock the Singing Welder
- Show Some Respect
- Sky Hooks and Tartan Paint
- Hadaway
- It’s Not the Same Moon
- The Last Ship (Reprise)
- So to Speak
- I Love Her But She Loves Someone Else
- What Have We Got?
- Ballad of the Great Eastern
- Practical Arrangement
- Language of Birds
- And Yet
- Practical Arrangement (Full Original Duet)
From the album
- The Last Ship (2013)
Sting popular songs
- Shape of My Heart
- Englishman in New York
- Desert Rose
- Fields of Gold
- Fragile
- Russians
- It’s Probably Me
- If I Ever Lose My Faith in You
- Brand New Day
- Seven Days
- Mad About You
- A Thousand Years
- Soul Cake
- I Can’t Stop Thinking About You
- If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
- All This Time
- When We Dance
- If It’s Love
- The Last Ship
- Fortress Around Your Heart
- Children’s Crusade
- Moon Over Bourbon Street
- Synchronicity I
- Giacomo’s Blues