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Today's song is about feeling joyous, but knowing that the joy is going to end someday. Today’s singer wrote it after he bought a house near a barley field. The sunsets and the colors of the field were an inspiration for the lyrics.
He says the major theme in this is commitment. It is about a man who has broken promises before, but is determined to make this relationship last. This artist’s wife, for whom it was written, says that it is still her favorite of all the great songs he is known for.
She is not alone: Eva Cassidy did a much beloved cover of this song and former Beatle Paul McCartney named this as the song he wished he'd written. He said. "I like [THAT SONG] 'I should have written it. How dare he.”
The song is notable for its liberal and romantic use of language. Of the lyric, "So she took her love for to gaze awhile upon the fields of barley," today’s rock icon told an interviewer, "I'm using poetic license to alter syntax. I wanted to create a timeless idea that the song could have been written in the sixteenth century."
Despite being one of his signature songs, it surprisingly wasn't ever a big hit for this former Police frontman.Today’s song hit #23 on the billboard charts at the time of its release in 1993, certainly not a hit by his own standards. However Canadians loved the song and it reached #2 there. It’s also - as we mentioned- his wife’s favorite song from his extensive catalog.
The singer described the view from his 16th-century Wiltshire manor house, which inspired the song:
"In England, our house is surrounded by barley fields, and in the summer it's fascinating to watch the wind moving over the shimmering surface, like waves on an ocean of gold. There's something inherently sexy about the sight...Lovers have made promises here, I'm sure, their bonds strengthened by the comforting cycle of the seasons."
The song of course, Sting and Fields of Gold.