``Alas,''said Monte Cristo,``your words sear and embitter my heart, the more so as you have every reason to hate me.

"Sear Me III" is the third in a trilogy of songs to bear the title, preceded by the keyboard and violin-only "Sear Me MCMXCIII" in 1993 and "Sear Me" in 1991, which is more similar in style to the third incarnation, being a full band composition.

Staffin () is a district with the Gaelic name "An Taobh Sear", which translates as 'the East Side', on the northeast coast of the Trotternish peninsula of the island of Skye.