Songfacts®:

• This song deals with divorce, telling the story of a guy who is going through a split and struggling with the ordeal. All he asks is "Gravitas," which refers to dignity. In our interview with Asia lead singer John Wetton, he explained: "He's just saying, 'For Christ sake, can I come out of this with some dignity?' It's so demoralizing and so demeaning. I mean, anyone that's been through a goddamn divorce will know that. It's horrible. No good for anyone. Nobody wins. Just it's a war of attrition."
  
  Wetton is familiar with divorce: he and his wife Jill split up after about 10 years of marriage.
• The album was slated to be called Valkyrie, after another track on the album, but Carl Palmer objected, since he thought that title was too feminine. The band agreed to name it after the song they were working on next, which was this one.