Songfacts®:

• Sting said this dark ballad from his third solo album was inspired by the biblical tale of King David and Bathsheba, whose adulterous affair led to murder. In the Second Book of Samuel, King David is wandering his palace in Jerusalem when he spots a beautiful woman bathing on a rooftop. He learns her name is Bathsheba, and she's married to a soldier named Uriah, who is serving in battle. David sends for her anyway and the two have an affair which leaves Bathsheba pregnant. When his plot to cover up the dirty deed fails, David has Uriah killed and takes Bathsheba for his wife.
  
  "These stories of murder and obsessive, jealous love appeal to me for some reason," Sting explained. "Yes, those lines 'There are no victories, In all our histories, Without love' have the quintessential Sting idea that romantic love outweighs global issues. I really believe that. Love is continuity of the species, it's the most important thing. That's why love songs are immortal. A political song will be dated within a year. It took me a long time to learn that."
• Sting performed this on Saturday Night Live on January 19, 1991.