One reason I cannot stand poetry, a category in which I include song lyrics, is that everything is a double entendre. In this case, the lyrics seem to mix metaphors that range from Greek mythology to German folklore and includes much esoteric references. Yet, the key seems to be the video for the song.
Let us first consider the lyrics:
You consider me the young apprentice
Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis
Hypnotized by you if I should linger
Staring at the ring around your finger
Whoever “You” is considers him to be under his guidance, tutelage, etc.; apprenticeship.
Scylla and Charybdis are monstrous creatures from Greek mythology who inhabit either side of a narrow channel of water called the Straight of Messina . In order to maintain a safe distance from one creature one would come within the grasp of the other in a Catch 22 situation. Passing through was one of Odysseus’ challenges.
See what I mean about the poem/lyrics? “linger” how, why, when, where? Well, in any case, hypnotism is a form of mind control, implanting of suggestions, etc. “You” has the ability to hypnotize him via a device; in this case a ring.
I have only come here seeking knowledge
Things they would not teach me of in college
I can see that destiny you sold
Turned into a shining band of gold
The seeking of knowledge is a typical term for someone seeking initiation into a secret society / mystery school, etc. For example, in Freemasonic initiations the Senior Deacon of the Lodge refers to the initiate as he “who has long been in darkness, and now seeks the light.” Here light is, of course, metaphoric of enlightenment; the acquiring of hidden, that is, occult/esoteric, knowledge.
That he seeks “Things they would not teach me of in college” is either straight forward; he got an academic education and yet, seeks more—which is likely the case. Or, going off the deep end, again, he passed through the “Invisible College” but wants more. The Invisible College, proper, was a precursor group to the Royal Society of London. “The concept of ‘invisible college’ is mentioned in German Rosicrucian pamphlets in the early 17th century…In letters in 1646 and 1647, [Robert] Boyle refers to ‘our invisible college’ or ‘our philosophical college’…Lauren Kassell, writing for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, notes that the group of natural philosophers meeting in London from 1645 was identified as the ‘invisible college’ by Thomas Birch, writing in the 18th century” (From Wikipedia).
“You” seems to have sold his soul for whatever power he/she/it enjoys as their destiny is sold for that which represent their power to, for example, hypnotize (control people) the aforementioned ring, the “shining band of gold.”
The chorus implies an inescapable bond; apprenticeship, servitude, etc.
I’ll be wrapped around your finger
I’ll be wrapped around your finger
The song goes on thusly:
Mephistopheles is not your name
I know what you’re up to just the same
I will listen hard to your tuition
You will see it come to its fruition
Mephistopheles refers to a demonic character within German folklore and is perhaps best known from the Faust mythos; for some interesting background on this character, see Mephistopheles UFO aliens and Yoda.
Well, the “You” seems to be a demonic being and even though his actual name is not Mephistopheles is not your name, the song’s protagonist knows what the being is “up to.” Foreseeing a usurpation, as we shall see, the protagonist will learn as much as he can “listen hard to your tuition” and warns, as it were, that “You will see it come to its fruition.”
After another chorus, we hear:
Devil and the deep blue sea behind me
Vanish in the air you’ll never find me
I will turn your flesh to alabaster
Then you’ll find your servant is your master
The “You” whose name is not actually Mephistopheles now appears to be identified as the Devil who is now “behind me” as he who was once the apprentice vanishes and turns on his former master in turn mastering the “You” Devil.
The chorus then changes from I’ll be wrapped around your finger to You’ll be wrapped around my finger.
Now to the video. Videos are interesting as they can elucidate a song’s lyrics or even change their meaning. For example, Micheal Jackson’s “Beat it” meant do not join a gang; beat it as in get out of here. Yet, in the video the beat it also means masturbation as this is just the motion being made by the dancers when the chorus is sung.
Well, the video for The Police’s “Wrapped Around Your Finger” features the lead singer, Sting, dress in all white, wearing reflective sun glasses and barefoot running around numerous candle sticks.
For reasons I will explain below, the song’s true meaning is made manifest; if, that is, my hypothesis is accurate. There is not exactly a one to one correspondence to every lyric yet, my hypothesis is that the song, and especially the video, is a reference to Satan and God; Satan is the “young apprentice” who sees himself being caught between Scylla and Charybdis or as we may term it; a rock and a hard place. You see, Biblically, as per Ezekiel 28:14, Satan is a fallen Cherub (not a fallen Angel) who was navigating, as it were, between God and man.
The “ring around” God’s “finger” refers to God’s authority against which Satan rebelled.
Satan’s seeking of knowledge seems to be implied in the statement in Ezekiel 28 which fluctuates, according to a template (for more on this see: Is lucifer a fallen angel? (contra Jim Brayshaw)) between referring to the prince and the king of Tyrus/Tyre, “Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty…Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.”
Apparently, Satan sees God as having a destiny of maintaining His authority as He wears the ring, the band of gold. Thus, Satan will “be wrapped around your finger.”
Note that according to Gnosticism the Biblical story is turned inside out, upside down and backwards. Viewing the spirit as pure and the physical/flesh as corrupt, Gnostics reasoned that the creator of the physical realm, the God of the Bible, must have not been the true God but a deluded underling of sorts; an evil entity. This evil entity sought to keep humanity ignorant but then the serpent came and illuminated/enlightened humanity by encouraging Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (for details on this see Prometheus unhinged – on the varied mythology and Atheist’s satanic doctrine pwned by John Lennox).
Whatever the reference to Mephistopheles not being “your name” may mean here; the key is that Satan “will listen hard to” God’s “tuition” and, as noted above, envisages his own rebellion as he thinks or tells God, “You will see it come to its fruition.” You see, everything Satan does is a corruption of that which God does as he learned everything from God’s tuition.
Thus, the “Devil” turn out to be the Gnostic evil God and Satan vanishes “in the air” as Ephesians 2:2 refers to him as the prince of the power of the air; he thinks he can get away from God, “you’ll never find me.” Yet, he not only seeks to abscond from God’ authority but to turn on God and usurp Him, “you’ll find your servant is your master. You’ll be wrapped around my finger.” Isaiah 14:12b-14 states, “how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Also, that the “Devil and the deep blue sea behind me” may refer to Revelation 13:1 which states that John “saw a beast rise up out of the sea.”
Recall the description of the video; Sting is dress in all white, wearing reflective sun glasses and barefoot running around numerous candle sticks.
Now, consider the text of Revelation 1 which has John stating:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last…And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
The correlation is hard to escape even if imperfect:
Jesus-the Alpha and Omega: amongst candlesticks.
Sting: amongst candlesticks.
Jesus-the Alpha and Omega: like unto the Son of man meaning a human form.
Sting: a human.
Jesus-the Alpha and Omega: clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.
Sting: clothed with a garment down to the foot (not sure if he wore a gold belt or not) which is like a short robe-like jacket with white pants. Sting’s head and hairs are not exactly white but his head/face is place as he is a white guy and his hair is light blond; the white aspect is reflected in his outfit which is all white down to the feet.
Jesus-the Alpha and Omega: his eyes were as a flame of fire.
Sting: Sting wears reflective sun glasses so that the candles reflect the candle flames which literally make his eyes as a flame of fire.
Jesus-the Alpha and Omega: his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.
Sting: Sting’s feet may not be like unto fine brass yet, he is barefoot in order to emphasize this correlation; his feet are visible.
Jesus-the Alpha and Omega: his voice as the sound of many waters.
Sting: this may not correlate at all although, due to the chorus singing of the other members of the band during the chorus; Sting’s voice is multiplied or otherwise augmented, in a manner of speaking.
Thus, within the video, Sting plays the part of Jesus-the Alpha and Omega but with a twist; as the video ends, he proceeds to knock down the candlesticks which as per Revelation 1:20 represent the church (seven specific churches). Thus, we see Sting/Satan being shown to have usurped the place of God/Jesus and overcoming the church as well.
Granted; I could be 100% wrong about all of this and granted, when dealing with double (or multiple) entendres, symbolism and metaphor things can get difficult to discern. Yet, the correlations seem very telling.
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