King Of Pain
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"King of Pain" is a song by The Police, originally released on their 1983 album Synchronicity.
It was released as a worldwide single by A&M Records. It was the second single from Synchronicity in the US and the fourth single in the UK.
Reaching number 3 in the US charts in October 1983, and number 1 on the Billboard Top Tracks chart for five weeks in August 1983, the single is The Police's most successful US single (together with "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic") after "Every Breath You Take" based on chart position. In the UK, it reached number 17 in the charts in January 1984.
In a retrospective review of the single, Allmusic journalist Mike DeGagne praised the song as being "a solid masterpiece." He wrote: "Sting's references to painful yet everyday occurrences (a butterfly caught in a spider's web, a seagull with a broken back, etc.) symbolize how the physical world regards death and pain as insignificant and minute in the grand scheme of things, whereas the human perception is dealt with an abundance of sorrow and anguish."
Famous quotes containing the words king of, king and/or pain:
“The great King of kings
Hath in the table of his law commanded
That thou shalt do no murder. Will you then
Spurn at his edict, and fulfill a man’s?
Take heed; for he holds vengeance in his hand
To hurl upon their heads that break his law.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The lion cares less about being king of the beasts than about finding his dinner.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)
“All pain is a punishment, and every punishment is inflicted for love as much as for justice.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)