Songfacts:
Ostensibly about the violence and turmoil in Northern Ireland in the early 1980s, this song also takes into account suffering on a much larger scale: "And they're only gonna change this place, by killing everybody in the human race."
Sting explained in Lyrics By Sting: "'Invisible Sun' is a dark, brooding song about the lurking violence of those streets, patrolled by armored cars, haunted by fear and suspicion, and wounds that would take generations to heal. I'm happy that the glimmer of hope in the song's title was somewhat prophetic and pray that the sectarian violence that destroyed so many lives is well and truly over."