"All This Time" is a song by English musician

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

. It was released as the first single from his third studio album, ''

The Soul Cages ''The Soul Cages'' is the third full-length studio album released by English musician Sting. Released on 21 January 1991 it became Sting's second No. 1 album in the United Kingdom. This was Sting's first album to feature guitarist Dominic Mille ...

'' (1991), on 31 December 1990. The song was a chart success, especially in North America, reaching 5 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and topping the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Album Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

chart, the ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks (1988–2009) and Alternative Songs (2009–2020)) is a music chart in the United States that has appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-played ...

chart, and the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Top Singles chart.

Lyrics

The lyrics provide a reference to the death of Sting's father, symbolized by the image of a young boy, Billy, who, at the death of his father, wishes to bury him at sea instead of going through the Catholic rites: Despite the dark lyrics, the uptempo tune of the song foils their macabre undertone: The imaginary character, Billy, is also referred to in the lyrics to the opening song on ''The Soul Cages'', "Island Of Souls".

History

"All This Time" opened the set on ''The Soul Cages'' tour. After this, the song was not performed again until 2000 during the Brand New Day tour. The song lent its name to the '' ...All This Time'' live album which was recorded on

September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...

, at Sting's villa in

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

. The music video depicts the wry, black humour of the song and is set aboard a cruise ship that constantly tilts from side to side. It features

Melanie Griffith Melanie Richards Griffith (born August 9, 1957) is an American actress. She began her career in the 1970s, appearing in several independent thriller films before achieving mainstream success in the mid-1980s. Born in Manhattan, New York City, ...

as a manicurist and Sting's wife

Trudie Styler Trudie Styler (born 6 January 1954) is an English actress and film producer. Early life and family Styler was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, the daughter of Pauline and Harry Styler, a farmer and factory worker. When Styler was two years ...

dressed as a French maid, and recreates the overcrowded stateroom scene from the

Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...

' 1935 film '' A Night at the Opera''. As Sting's stateroom slowly fills with people, the two priests mentioned in the lyrics emerge from a bathtub, to the terror of a boy who is using it at the time, and the antics on the ship prompt a man on a dock to abandon his effort to drown himself and come aboard instead. The last verse is punctuated by a vaudeville performer attempting to do a dance routine while the spotlight keeps moving away from him; he finally gets fed up and storms off the stage. At the end of the video, when the priests enter the room, Sting throws his luggage out of the stateroom's porthole, jumps after it, and sinks slowly into the ocean as a

lifebuoy A lifebuoy is a life-saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in water, to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights, to aid rescue at night. Other names Other nam ...

is thrown toward him.

Track listings

7-inch and cassette single # "All This Time" # "I Miss You Kate" (instrumental) 12-inch and CD single # "All This Time" # "I Miss You Kate" (instrumental) # "

King of Pain "King of Pain" is a song by English rock band the Police, released as the final single from their fifth and final studio album ''Synchronicity'' (1983). Written by the band's lead singer and bassist Sting as a post-separation song from his wif ...

" (live) Japanese maxi-CD single # "All This Time" (edit) # "King of Pain" (live) # " We'll Be Together" (extended mix) # " Someone to Watch Over Me" # "I Miss You Kate"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:All This Time (Sting Song) 1990 singles 1990 songs A&M Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Songs written by Sting (musician) Sting (musician) songs