Sting said of writing "Invisible Sun": The song's lyrics stem from songwriter Sting's pondering how people living in war-torn and/or impoverished countries find the will to go on living, and despite the dark music and often morbid lyrical statements, the song carries an uplifting and optimistic message. The song was deeply personal for drummer
Stewart Copeland, whose hometown of
Beirut in
Lebanon was being heavily bombed at the time of the song's recording:
Bono performed duets of it with Sting when
U2 and the Police appeared at the same concerts: the first such instance was in 1982 at a festival in
Gateshead, England, and two subsequent instances occurred at the last two shows of
Amnesty International's
A Conspiracy of Hope tour in 1986. The song is a departure from Police songs before it; "Invisible Sun" contains a dark,
looping synthesizer beat, and powerful, haunting lyrics. Among other things, the lyrics refer to the
ArmaLite rifle used by paramilitary organisations, but mainly by the
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The music video for "Invisible Sun" features a collection of video clips taken from the conflict in Northern Ireland. Owing to its subject matter, the video was banned by the
BBC. In 1998, Sting recorded a new version of "Invisible Sun" with the British
reggae group
Aswad. The song was revised as a duet between Sting and vocalist Tony "Gad" Robinson with an upbeat tempo and a prominent horn section. The track was featured in
The X-Files: The Album, a promotional
soundtrack album released to accompany the film
The X-Files: Fight The Future. == Composition ==