Valparaiso

Chase the dog star
Over the sea
Home where my true love is waiting for me
Rope the south wind

Canvas the stars
Harness the moonlight
So she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso

The violin is stirring. The lyrics are haunted. And always the reference to the Sea. The indomitable force of the sea. I've often seen myself on a ship at sea. Far from land, from home. Gazing into a storm clouded sky and thinking of her. Always the melancholy thoughts of would I ever make it back to see her again.

Red the port light
Starboard the green
How will she know of the devils I've seen
Cross in the sky star of the sea

Under the moonlight there she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso

Or maybe it was she who was at sea and I'd gaze out the window of our house. Or walk down to the beach and dream of the sight of her ship. Then the change of notes on the violin sets me to think that she's lost at sea and I stand on the rocky shore as the waves crash in. Longing for her to return from where she never will.

And every road I walked would take me down to the sea
With every broken promise in my sack
And every love would always send the ship of my heart
Over the rolling sea

Maybe it's me who will never return. Holding duty-bound to the wheel of the ship. Floundering in bad weather. But bravely, defiantly, fighting with all my strength to make it back to her. Clutching madly to the locket that bears her picture. With her name on my lips as my prayer. All the while knowing it's my final one.

If I should die
And water's my grave
She'll never know if I'm damned or I'm saved
See the ghost fly over the sea

Under the moonlight, there she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso

But it really is always the sea. The sea, it keeps the distance between us. The sea, the metaphor for sorrow. The medium of depth of pain. Always a deeper level always dark, murky, and cold. Always the salt teared sea.

Chase the dog star
Over the sea
Home where my true love is waiting for me
Rope the south wind

Canvas the stars
Harness the moonlight
So she can safely go
Round the Cape Horn to Valparaiso

~~~~~~~~~~~

Again I'd like to thank Sting for writing such a beautiful song. I can't speak of the many reasons why it seems to have me gripped on the rolling sea.