The Police have released Sting's demo of "King of Pain" ahead of next month's release of their Synchronicity 40th anniversary box set.
Backed by what sounds like a drum machine, he sings about his separation from his first wife, actress Frances Tomelty.
He says, "I conjured up symbols of pain and related them to my soul. A black spot on the sun struck me as being a very painful image, and I felt that was my soul up there on the sun. It's just projecting your state into the world of symbolism, which is what poetry's all about, really."
Audio file