Lyrics:

I looked out across
The river today
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower
Where the seagulls play

Saw the sad shire horses walking home
In the sodium light
Two priests on the ferry
October geese on a cold winter's night

All this time, the river flowed
Endlessly to the sea
If I had my way, I'd take a boat from the river
And I'd bury the old man
I'd bury him at sea

Blessed are the poor
For they shall inherit the earth
Better to be poor than a fat man in the eye of a needle

As these words were spoken, I swear
I hear the old man laughin'
What good is a used up world
And how could it be worth having?

All this time the river flowed
Endlessly like a silent tear
All this time the river flowed
Father, if Jesus exists
Then how come he never lived here?

The teachers told us
The Romans built this place
They built a wall and a temple, an edge of the empire
Garrison town

They lived and they died, they prayed to their gods
But the stone gods did not make a sound
And their empire crumbled, 'til all that was left
Were the stones the workmen found

All this time the river flowed
In the falling light of a northern sun
If I had my way I'd take a boat from the river
Men go crazy in congregations
They only get better one by one

One by one
One by one by one
One by one

I looked out across
The river today
I saw a city in the fog and an old church tower

tailwaggers wrote: Even better, unwritten.

Father if Sting is so good Then why does he write crap like this?

sting songs are best when they are left unplayed

Aaargh. What\'s with all the redone tracks getting the airtime? They don\'t come close to capturing the magic that the originals did...

I was going to give this a \'2\' rating since the instruments were at least in tune, but \"Sucko-barfo\" really best describes this abomination.

I\'m curious as to why Sting has released these watered down versions of some great songs ?!?!? I like the original versions ...

I\'m with the thumbs down crowd on this one. Sounds like a lounge lizard cover of the original. :roll:

I like the original better too

I don\'t know what Sting was thinking, but this version is in no way as good as the original. He doesn\'t even try to hit the high notes anymore, and the revised melody he sings is bland.