The Police
The Police – Every Breath You Take
About The Song
This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. It is about an obsessive stalker, but it sounds like a love song. Some people even used it as their wedding song. The Police frontman Sting wrote it after separating from his first wife, Frances Tomelty.
In a 1983 interview with the New Musical Express, Sting explained: “I think it’s a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership.” Regarding the common misinterpretation of the song, he added: “I think the ambiguity is intrinsic in the song however you treat it because the words are so sadistic. On one level, it’s a nice long song with the classic relative minor chords, and underneath there’s this distasteful character talking about watching every move. I enjoy that ambiguity. I watched Andy Gibb singing it with some girl on TV a couple of weeks ago, very loving, and totally misinterpreting it. (Laughter) I could still hear the words, which aren’t about love at all. I pissed myself laughing.”
In a 1983 interview with the New Musical Express, Sting explained: “I think it’s a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership.” Regarding the common misinterpretation of the song, he added: “I think the ambiguity is intrinsic in the song however you treat it because the words are so sadistic. On one level, it’s a nice long song with the classic relative minor chords, and underneath there’s this distasteful character talking about watching every move. I enjoy that ambiguity. I watched Andy Gibb singing it with some girl on TV a couple of weeks ago, very loving, and totally misinterpreting it. (Laughter) I could still hear the words, which aren’t about love at all. I pissed myself laughing.”
In America, this was the biggest hit of 1983, according to Billboard’s year-end chart. It stayed at #1 for eight weeks, longer than any other song that year (Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” was #2, with a seven-week stay).
Sting wrote this at the same desk in Jamaica where Ian Fleming wrote his James Bond novels. By this time, the band was at the peak of their popularity and often traveled to exotic locales so they could work more effectively. Sting was also exerting more control, taking less input from his bandmates when it came time to record his songs. Synchronicity ended up being the fifth and final Police studio album, as it was clear they could no longer work together. “Every Breath You Take” was the first single from the album.