Lovers who dedicate it to each other and piano bar performers who regularly play it at weddings. If you are thinking of getting married, perhaps ask that the Police song not be played. Not because it’s not beautiful, on the contrary, but because it’s not really a song that talks about serene love, on the contrary. What they perhaps don’t know, in fact, is that Every Breath You Takeprobably the most famous song of the Policeis also the most misunderstood for its meaning.
History and meaning of Every Breath You Take by The Police
Legend has it that Sting wrote the song in Jamaica, sitting at the same desk where Ian Fleming used to write the James Bond novels. This wasn’t too unusual for the time. The Police were already very famous, just coming off the success of Ghost in the Machine, fourth album from the British trio. And so it wasn’t so absurd that the group decided to travel to exotic destinations to find inspiration for new pieces.
However, we are in a crucial period in the band’s history. The ’80s began, and Sting became the creative fulcrum of the project, accepting less and less input from the other members. The result will be a masterpiece album called Synchronicitywho will also score the definitive end of the project for the same reasons listed above. The first single from the Police album/testament will be that song born at Ian Fleming’s desk in Jamaica.
Despite Sting’s creative monopoly on the album, Every Breath You Take was born from the three’s ability to take a step back. Sting composed it on a Hammond organ, but when he introduced it to the rest of the band it was Andy Summers to create magic, proposing one of the most iconic guitar arpeggios in the history of music. In an interview with Record Collector the guitarist said:
“Without that guitar part there is no song. That’s what sealed it. My guitar made it completely classic yet modern. I actually did it in one take, but that’s because Sting’s demo left a lot of room for me to do what I did. There was no way to guitar chords in a song like that.”
Also Stewart Copeland manages to assert its reasons during the arrangement phase. The drummer records his drum part in separate takes, though Sting wanted to use an Oberheim drum machine for the hi-hat. Copeland firmly opposes it and in the end the drums we hear are (fortunately) his.
However, as often happens, the band realizes that at song is missing something. The choruses are beautiful, and the verses functional. However, one is missing bridge, an interlude. The problem is solved by Sting who, after banging his head for weeks, he decides to sit at the piano and always strike the same chord, almost exasperated. This obstinate way of composing will lead to the birth of the bridge melody, perhaps the most beautiful and desperate part of the entire piece.
The dark meaning of Every Breath You Take by The Police
When people tell me they want Every Breath You Take at their wedding, I always say, ‘well, happy birthday’”
Sting
If you haven’t understood the true meaning of Every Breath You Take, don’t worry, not even the drummer has understood it (and what a drummer) Stewart Copeland. Only after publication did he realize that it wasn’t a romantic song.
The text, in fact, is very dark. The song an obsessive stalker speaks, control freak towards the woman he loves. A sadly current theme, despite the song being punctually indicated as “the classic song to play at a wedding”. Sting himself spoke about it to NME in 1983:
“I think it’s a bad song, quite evil. It’s about jealousy, surveillance and ownership. I think the ambiguity is inherent in the song, however you treat it, because the words are so sadistic. On the one hand, it’s a nice long song with the classic relative minor chords, and on the other hand there’s this unpleasant character who talks about watching every movement. I like this ambiguity. A couple of weeks ago I saw Andy Gibb singing it with a girl on TV, very sweet, who did it completely wrong. I could still hear the words, which aren’t about love at all. I pissed myself laughing.”
There is obviously a lot of Sting’s personal stories in the song. The singer-songwriter had in fact intended to write a love song (and this can be seen in the compositional and melodic side), however Sting was returning from a not exactly happy personal situation, given that he had just separated from Frances Tomelty, his first wife. In another interview Sting said:
“Once it was written and performed, I realized it was quite dark. My intention was to write a romantic, seductive, enveloping and intimate song. Then I realized that inside there was also another side of my personality, that of control and jealousy, and this is its power. It was written in a difficult time.”
The meaning of the lyrics of Every Breath You Take
Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you
Read in the right key (assuming and not granted that there are right and wrong keys to interpretation), the obsessive control that the protagonist exercises over his loved one is evident from the first verse. Furthermore, the first two sentences are a subtle homage to the second verse of Led Zeppelin’s D’yer Mak’er (where Robert Plant actually sings “Every breath you take, every move you make”.
Every single day
And every word you say
Every game you play
Every night you stay
I’ll be watching you
This climate of surveillance, almost reminiscent of Orwell’s Big Brother, becomes even more exasperated in the second verse.
Oh, can’t you see
You belong to me?
How my poor heart aches
With every step you take
What perhaps most of all fuels the misunderstanding of the song is the spectacular melody of the chorus. So beautiful that it overshadows the meaning of the text, which clearly implies a need for possession.
Every move you make
And every vow you break
Every smile you fake
Every claim you stake
I’ll be watching you
From a linguistic and writing point of view, it is interesting to note the obsessive repetition of the word “every”. The protagonist is such a control freak that he claims to be able to observe even fake smiles. An attitude that literally threatens to take away the air from the victim (after all, the title of the song is “your every breath”).
Since you’ve gone, I’ve been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around, but it’s you I can’t replace
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace
I keep crying, baby, baby, please
As we mentioned above, it is the bridge is the most desperate part of the song. This not only because of the melody that Sting pulled out of the hat, but also because, for the first time, the protagonist reveals himself vulnerable. After an entire song spent reiterating that he dominates the relationship (and even the other person’s life), here he shows himself weak and desperate. She talks openly about his obsession with her, and even goes so far as to beg her to come back to him.
The ending is also emblematic, in which Sting obsessively repeats (even self-overlapping) the same words.
The official video
There are also many interesting things to say about the official video for Every Breath You Take. The idea came from an executive at A&M Records (the Police’s label). Jeff Ayeroffwho falls in love with a 1944 short film called Jammin’ The Bluesdirected by John Mill.
The short, in black and white, shows a group of prominent jazz musicians performing in a smoky club. Ayeroff likes it so much that he proposes to the Police to take up that concept again, who accept only to avoid further internal arguments (there wasn’t really a peaceful climate in that period).
The fact is that the label hires the duo Godley & Creme as director, and Daniel Pearl to photography. The trio immediately identifies the ideal location: “quella usata da Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers nel video di A Woman in Love (It’s Not Me)”.
The Police video, which opens with a smoking cigarette, shows the band playing (with a string section as accompaniment). But there is another element that has been a source of debate for a long time: the guy who washes windows behind the band. After years of speculation and theories, it was co-director Kevin Godley who explained the choice to place that character in the video:
“The window cleaner seemed suited to that kind of noir atmosphere. It could also be someone you don’t expect, who is there watching what happens, which relates to the sense of surveillance the song is about. We didn’t want to know his story. It’s something I’ve remained faithful to all the years I’ve been doing this job: I hate telling the story of the song in videos, because you either show it or tell it, you can’t do both. If the song is telling something, there is no need to show captionally what the lyrics say. We want to insert the performance of the song, something about it, in a place, a frame if you like, that improves the experience. Don’t do the obvious. But, in this case, I think the window cleaner was a way of saying that someone is watching us.”
The video arrived at the first edition of the MTV Video Music Awards in 1984 (the same event in which Madonna scandalized the world with Like a Virgin) with 8 nominations. It will only win the award for best photography, but the video (like the song) will be among the most iconic of the ’80s.
Finally, it is worth pointing out a small curiosity: Godley & Creme will resume the aesthetics of Every Breath You Take also in 1985, when they direct the video of their song Cry.
Live 8 and sampling in homage to Notorious BIG
On the occasion of Live 8 in 2005, Sting rewrote part of the lyrics. During the event, organized by Bob Geldof to ask for more aid for Africa, Sting inserted the verse “We’ll be watching you” to signify that the world would keep an eye on politicians making critical decisions about the fate of Africa.
Finally we point out the sampling of the song made by Puff Daddy in 1997 for his I’ll Be Missing Youa song dedicated to the memory of the late Notorious B.I.G
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