"Every Breath You Take" is the Police/Sting's most popular song ever. It won three Grammys in 1983, and has been played a ton everywhere. It's on tons of top 100 and top 500 greatest song lists, with Billboard naming it the 25th best song ever. Some think it might be the most played song ever. Like ever, ever. It has been voted the most beloved song in the UK. Sting makes about 1/3 of all of his money off of this song alone. The OG video is super cool, shot in black and white, with more than 1.2B views on just this link alone (crazy), check it here:    • The Police - Every Breath You Take (O...  

And it's a great song for sure. Better than that, it's fantastic. It is simple and straightforward, but just gets right into you. Is it a love song or sinister song? Sting has claimed “the song is very, very sinister, and ugly. And people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle little love song, when it’s quite the opposite.” It's about big brother, surveillance, jealousy, Reagan's Star War's defense, or a stalker, but in reality this seems like there may be some revisionism. Sting said “I didn’t realize at the time how sinister it is. I think I was thinking of Big Brother, of surveillance and control.” Okay, you think you were thinking? Do tell. Sting continues “Of course, I wasn’t aware of any of this. I thought I was just writing a hit song, and indeed it became one of the songs that defined the ’80s, and by accident the perfect soundtrack for Reagan’s Star Wars fantasy of control and seduction.” Many artists sometimes try to make their songs seems deeper or more relevant after the fact. And most artists don't like to overly define their songs, letting people find all sorts of meanings, which is great; in fact it's one of the fantastic things about art.

Or is the song about Sting's internal turmoil with the band and his marriage in disfunction, both about to break up? The band couldn't really work together anymore. Copeland and Stewart resented Sting's increasing control, and if Copeland recorded drum parts, sometimes Sting would just erase them. In fact, it seems that Copeland and Stewart both feel as though the song could've been so much better if Sting had let Copeland's version of the drums win out. In 2000, Copeland said "in my humble opinion, this is Sting's best song with the worst arrangement. I think Sting could have had any other group do this song and it would have been better than our version – except for Andy's brilliant guitar part. Basically, there's an utter lack of groove. It's a totally wasted opportunity for our band. Even though we made gazillions off of it, and it's the biggest hit we ever had, when I listen to this recording, I think 'God, what a bunch of assholes we were!" And then Copeland and Stewart both seem to think that Sting took a little too much credit for the song and that Stewart's reworking of the guitar parts deserves some writing credit. Well, the guitar is awesome in this song. Just this last fall, Stewart said that the song was "going in the trash until I played on it," contributing the guitar riff that "has become a kind of immortal guitar part that all guitar players have to learn.” So it sounds like a legal battle is brewing. Too bad.

That's how life is. Messy, and unfortunately sometimes contentious. Many artists see, possibly even sometimes focus on, the warts in their art. But despite all of that, we have this fantastic song that so many people deservedly love.

And of course, like a lot of great art, it inspires even more great art. How awesome is Puff Dadddy's "I'll Be Missing You"? It is unbelievable as well, earning yet another Grammy, with Sting performing it with Puff Daddy at the 1997 MTV awards. "I'll Be Missing You" topped the charts for 11 weeks, more than what the original "Every Breath You Take" did on its release. The official video for "I'll Be Missing You" is great as well, garnering almost 1B views (crazy, again). Check it here:    • Puff Daddy [feat. Faith Evans & 112] ...   "I'll Be Missing You" is definitely one of the top all time songs about loss. Such is the legacy of art coming out of "Every Breath You Take."

What do you think of this song?

Great night @ Petco with Sting and Billy Joel. Check out more highlights from the Billy Joel and Sting concert here:    • Sting [The Police] + Billy Joel "Ever...  

Enjoy.

#jimjam #sting #thepolice #petcopark