Desert Rose

Here are the lyrics:

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of fire
Those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire
And in the flames
Her shadows play in the shape of a man’s desire

This desert rose
Each of her veils, a secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

And as she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothing’s as it seems.

I dream of rain
I life my gaze to empty skies above
I close my eyes
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

Sweet desert rose
Each of her veils, a secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

Sweet desert rose
This memory of Eden haunts us all
This desert flower
This rare perfume, is the sweet intoxication of the fall

I’ve always liked this song, but never paid too much attention to the lyrics until now. The Biblical references are interesting. Some state that the lyrics of Desert Rose are inspired by the Frank Herbert novel, Dune, possibly because Sting played the villainous Feyd Rautha in the 1984 film adaptation. Both film and book feature the Arabic language.

The song also features the Algerian rai singer Cheb Mami………the genre of the song is given as World.

Sting’s official website can be found here