[18] The single, "Why Should I Cry for You", was written for The Soul Cages in 1989, and Sting has said that the rest of the album flowed quite easily after that first hurdle was overcome.

Most of the songs have motifs related to sailing or the seas; Sting wrote in his autobiography, Broken Music, that his father had always regretted not becoming a sailor.

The work would be based on an album he released many years ago concerning the loss of his father, growing up in Newcastle and witnessing the passing of the shipbuilding industry there.

[19] At the time this album appeared, the music industry was starting to shift away from using CD longboxes.

Sting, a committed environmentalist, wanted to eliminate the amount of cardboard waste caused by the longbox.