Released: September 20, 2013
Songwriter: Sting Rob Mathes
Producer: Sting Rob Mathes
[Verse]
They say there's an underground river
That none of us can see
And it flows through winding tunnels
On its way to a tide-less sea
And across that sea is an island
A paradise we are told
Where the toils of life are forgotten
And they call it the Island of Souls
For only a soul can go there
A soul that's been set free
From the confines of a working life
To find eternity
Your old man had a cage for his pigeons
But that's really where he kept his soul
And when he watched them fly he would see himself
Least that's how it was told
But his soul was still trapped in the cage son
While the birds they soared to the sky
But he couldn't find his own way out
Least not until the day he died
[Chorus]
Oh, a man builds a cage with the tools he is given
His casket is sealed with a riveter's gun
This solitary madness is where he is driven
It was him who was trapped in the soul cage, son
It was him that was trapped in the soul cage
[Bridge]
I know that he loved you, but he hadn't the words
He'd be easier speaking the language of birds
For to speak of emotion, it just wasn't done
It was him who was trapped in the soul cage, son
It was him that was trapped in the soul cage
[Chorus]
Oh, a man builds a cage with the tools he is given
His casket is sealed with a riveter's gun
This solitary madness is where he is driven
It was him who was trapped in the soul cage, son
It was him that was trapped in the soul cage
They say there's an underground river
That none of us can see
And it flows through winding tunnels
On its way to a tide-less sea
And across that sea is an island
A paradise we are told
Where the toils of life are forgotten
And they call it the Island of Souls
For only a soul can go there
A soul that's been set free
From the confines of a working life
To find eternity
Your old man had a cage for his pigeons
But that's really where he kept his soul
And when he watched them fly he would see himself
Least that's how it was told
But his soul was still trapped in the cage son
While the birds they soared to the sky
But he couldn't find his own way out
Least not until the day he died
[Chorus]
Oh, a man builds a cage with the tools he is given
His casket is sealed with a riveter's gun
This solitary madness is where he is driven
It was him who was trapped in the soul cage, son
It was him that was trapped in the soul cage
[Bridge]
I know that he loved you, but he hadn't the words
He'd be easier speaking the language of birds
For to speak of emotion, it just wasn't done
It was him who was trapped in the soul cage, son
It was him that was trapped in the soul cage
[Chorus]
Oh, a man builds a cage with the tools he is given
His casket is sealed with a riveter's gun
This solitary madness is where he is driven
It was him who was trapped in the soul cage, son
It was him that was trapped in the soul cage
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