The Bells on the Roof of St. Thomas are crying

Before diving into the lyrics, let's look at the song itself. It is a waltz, with a tempo of approximately 142 bpm. Complete with brushed drums and a double bass, the jazzy track is deceptively complex in its progression. It features Dominic Miller on guitar, Manu Katché on drums, and the bells that ring at the beginning are not from any cathedral in Antwerp, but actually Sting's own home in Tuscany, Il Palagio. 

I wake up in Antwerp

In some rich woman's bed

There's a man with a hammer

Inside of my head

She says, "I couldn't wake you,

I thought you were dead.

But you talked in your sleep-

I don't know what you said"

The song begins with our character, who I will later show is Sting himself, waking up confused, like Dante at the beginning of Inferno. His head is pounding from a hangover, and ringing like there are bells inside. The woman, with whom he is having an affair, points out that he talked in his sleep, though we never learn what he said.

I look in the mirror

My eyes bleeding red

There's a taste in my mouth

Of stale brandy and lead

Don't know how I got here

Or if I was led

He tastes brandy, confirming his hangover, and also lead. The taste of lead could be blood, or perhaps specifically referencing one of the heaviest metals is an allusion to the heaviness of the guilt he feels for the sin he just committed. The combined flavor provides a very satisfying image which contributes to his confusion, regret, and exhaustion. There are more parallels to Inferno, a text we know has influenced Sting from his earlier song, "Saint Augustine in Hell". 

But I know it's a Sunday

For the bells in my head

As they call to the faithful

The quick and the dead

The last days of judgment upon us

And the bells on the roof of St. Thomas

Are calling

We now know that the bells in his head are not just a hangover headache, but an effect of his conscience. There are actual bells in the distance at the beginning, but also a subconscious sound reminding the character of judgment. "The quick and the dead" is a reference to the traditional English translation of the Nicene Creed, "he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead". Now faced with the title of the song, a church called St. Thomas is referenced, though according to any historical records I can find, there has never been a notable church in Antwerp dedicated to the Apostle. However, though he is agnostic now, Sting's confirmation name was Thomas, and so a very pleasing parallel can be drawn between the bells on the roof of St. Thomas, and the bells in Sting's own head. Sting's, or Thomas's, roof is his mind.

She says, "Are you hungry?

You look underfed"

"No, I'd better be going,

I'll have coffee instead"

"Let me give you some money"

I say, "There's no need.

You don't owe me nothing.

It's what we agreed"

Now engaged in conversation, this "some woman" seems almost like a stranger to him. She clearly doesn't want him to leave, but he is anxious to flee at the expense of treating his hangover with an empty stomach. Reminding her that she doesn't owe him anything, he now apparently remembers details of their arrangement.

But the room's like a palace

In a book I once read

And the words that I'm thinking

Would be better unsaid

I search for my clothes

Then she asks if I'll stay

"There's a room for you here;

My husband's away"

The bells of St. Thomas

Are aching with doubt

They're cracked and they're broken

Like the earth in a drought

I've searched for their meaning

I just never found out

Whatever they're expecting from us

Or why the bells on the roof of St. Thomas

Are crying

Though he was just anxious to leave, upon seeing the woman's luxury and listening to her pleas, he is tempted to stay. However, the bells are still ringing, and though he doesn't know exactly what they want from him,  hinting at his agnosticism, they're impossible to ignore. The bells, cracked like the earth in a drought, are now crying desperately for his attention.

I walk to the church, though it's empty by now

The roof like an overturned ship, and a prow

For a puplit, and there it is upon the wall

St. Thomas inspecting the wounds for us all

It's a painting by Rubens

Painted from life

And it's flanked by a rich man

And his elegant wife

The church, to which he is late due to sleeping too long, matches the description of the Kerkschip St. Josef in Antwerp, although personally I doubt he is referencing this church, because it is a literal floating concrete ship, and does not have bells. More likely, since St. Thomas is already a church Sting has made up to parallel his own character, he is imposing his connection with the sea and navy onto it. Sting famously grew up upon the river Tyne, and songs like "Island of Souls" and "Waters of Tyne", as well as his musical production The Last Ship, highlight his complicated relationship with the sea.

The painting referenced is called the "Rockox Triptych" by Sir Peter Paul Rubens, painted between 1613 and 1615. The scene has three panels: Nicolaas Rockox, a mayor of Antwerp, on the left, his wife Adriana Perez on the right, and in the middle, a classic depiction of the Incredulity of the Apostle Thomas. I don't think there are any parallels between the woman with whom Sting is having the affair, and the couple in the painting; they are depicted virtuously, Adriana holding a rosary, and Nicolaas a book of prayer, held open to a certain page with his finger. Also, historically they had a happy and faithful marriage.

Thomas is in the center, closely examining the wound on Christ's left hand, John the Apostle is on his left, also examining the wound but less closely and intently. The man to Thomas's right is generally considered to be Peter. Interestingly, Christ's spear wound is missing, and as James Pilgrim argues in his article, "Ruben's Skepticism", this could be a clever move by Rubens to cause his viewer to briefly doubt their eyes, just like Thomas. Sting does not merely notice this painting, but says "and there it is, upon the wall" as if the bells told him it would be there. The real painting, as Sting notes in the CD pamplet of The Bridge, is in the Antwerp Museum, though it used to hang in the Cathedral of Our Lady in Antwerp.

The wounds we all share

And yet still need the proof

You can feign your indifference

Pretend you're aloof

But the wounds we're denying

Are there all the same

And the bells of St. Thomas

Start ringing again

Whether Sting believes anything can be known about God, the bells tell him innately that the wounds Thomas inspects are wounds we all share. You can deny these wounds, but they are there regardless, and the bells will continue ringing. His Catholic influence suggests he could be referencing original sin, though more likely he just means human nature at large. Sting writes in the pamplet, "I've always related to St. Thomas's very human disbelief"; just as Thomas doubts Jesus's wounds, so too does humanity try to ignore the guilt of sin. Deny it all you want, it's there all the same.

The saint I was named for

The sceptical brother

The rich man's wife

In the arms of another

And the exit wounds

Of a love that's gone wrong

She said she was leaving

But she'd already gone

And the last days of judgment

Are finally upon us

And the bells on the roof of St. Thomas

Are calling

Sting reminds us that the woman has this condition too. The exit wounds, or the unfortunate after-effects, of her affair will remain. The woman was dishonest to her husband about her commitment to him, claiming she was beginning to have second thoughts, when in reality she'd already been unfaithful. The last four lines of the song are ominous: they do not resolve anything, but impose a deadline on sin, while the bells keep on ringing, as they always have.