On June 4, 1983, the Police scored what would be their last No. 1 single in the U.K. with a song that has almost reached meme-worthy status for its years and years of misinterpretation and cringey inclusion in weddings, anniversary celebrations, and other events that are remarkably not what Sting is singing about in the band’s career-defining song. You know the one—cue the guitar arpeggio and reverb-y snare.
That’s right, dear reader: the song was, of course, “Every Breath You Take,” which reached the top of the charts roughly two weeks after the band released it in late May with the B-side “Murder by Numbers.”
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The Last No. 1 Single By The Police Is Famously Misunderstood
Ah, “Every Breath You Take.” You’ve heard it at weddings, school dances, anniversary parties, and virtually every occasion where the song shouldn’t be. The rampant misunderstanding of this actually-very-creepy song has elevated the track into almost meme status. To be fair to everyone who has ever had to explain why they chose this Police classic as their first dance song at their wedding, Sting didn’t realize how dark his lyrics were until he reviewed them later. At the time, he was simply jotting down an idea that came to him while he was asleep.
“I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head,” Sting later recalled to The Independent. “[I] sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour. The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others. But the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song. I didn’t realize at the time how sinister it is. I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance, and control. These were the Reagan, Star Wars years.” He added, “Oh, God, now you’ll say I’m being pretentious.”
Indeed, the song that so many have assumed was a romantic confession of undying love is actually about the authoritarian state. Every breath you take and every move you make, every bond you break, every step you take, I’ll be watchin’ you. In this context, the song could feasibly work as the de facto soundtrack to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984.
Leaving The World With A Creepy, Kind Of Romantic Bang
The Police’s “Every Breath You Take” was an international hit, reaching the top of the charts in the U.K., U.S., South Africa, Israel, Ireland, and Canada. It reached the top ten in countless other countries, including Australia, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. Critics called the British rock band “the biggest in the world.” But as all Icarian stories tend to go, the higher you fly, the harder you fall. After embarking on a tour of the album that included “Every Breath You Take,” Synchronicity, the band dissolved piece by piece as every member decided to break away and pursue a solo career. Sting, the bassist, was the first to go.
The band would reconvene for one-off performances and reunion tours in the midst of everyone’s busy solo careers. But they never officially got back together to release new music, making “Every Breath You Take” the last No. 1 single of the Police. But hey, at least we all knew they wouldn’t be totally gone. Sting said it himself: every game you play, every night you stay, I’ll be watching you. Er, sweet dreams?
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