The famous mistake Sting refused to remove from The Police’s 1978 hit: “It made me laugh”
In their near-decade of existence, The Police penned an extensive list of classics, ranging from the rock number ‘Message in a Bottle’ to the mainstream smash-hit ‘Every Breath You Take’. Whilst there are many moments of note in their oeuvre, it’s arguable that none are as culturally relevant as ‘Roxanne’.
Frontman and bassist Sting chose the track’s title after watching local prostitutes from a hotel room in Paris, France, as the band were booked to play at the Nashville Club in October 1977. When watching the group, Sting spotted a poster for the play Cyrano de Bergerac. Famously, the character, a witty swordsman with a comically large nose, is in love with a woman named Roxanne but is afraid to approach her, scared that his pronounced snout will turn her away.
“Those two conflicting ideas – of this beautiful name and this very, very elegant, courtly romance and what was going on in the hotel – just lit a torch under me,” Sting told People in 2023. “I went to my room, picked up the guitar and imagined this woman into life.”
‘Roxanne’ was the first major label release by The Police, who were at something of a creative crossroads during this period. They were on drummer Stewart Copeland’s brother Miles’ label before releasing the track, but after he heard it, they secured a deal with A&M Records.
Strangely, though, the song was a flop when it was first released in the UK because of its depiction of prostitution. However, when it was later released in North America, it was warmly received, prompting a successful re-release in the UK. The track then peaked at number 12 on the singles chart.
“It’s a piano chord, but I played it with my arse. There was an upright piano right next to me, and I was singing, and I just wanted a rest, and the piano lid was open, So I sat, and I played that chord; I think it’s A demolished, that’s the chord.”
Sting
The delayed success of Roxanne proved pivotal for The Police. What initially looked like an unsuccessful debut ultimately became the breakthrough that introduced the trio to an international audience, laying the foundations for one of the most successful careers of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
From Sting’s iconic wail of the title character’s name to the reggae-influenced rhythm, there are many notable aspects of ‘Roxanne’. However, the most fascinating is that the introduction contains one of the era’s best happy accidents. A crash of the piano and subsequent laughter is heard as Sting accidentally sits on the keys when the recording is running.
Sting told Dutch radio DJ Gerard Ekdom in 2016: “It’s a piano chord, but I played it with my arse. There was an upright piano right next to me, and I was singing, and I just wanted a rest, and the piano lid was open, So I sat, and I played that chord; I think it’s A demolished, that’s the chord. And it just made me laugh, so it’s on the record. Yeah, it was real.”
Rather than editing the mistake out, the band embraced it, recognising that the spontaneous moment added to the recording’s personality. It was an early example of The Police allowing imperfections to enhance a performance rather than polishing every rough edge away, giving the song an immediacy that suited its raw emotional core.
Decades later, Roxanne remains a defining moment not only for The Police but for Sting as a songwriter. Its unlikely combination of reggae rhythms, jazz influences and an empathetic narrative transformed what could have been a controversial subject into one of rock’s most enduring classics. Even the accidental piano chord has become inseparable from the song, proving that sometimes the moments musicians never intended to capture are the ones listeners remember most.
Listen to ‘Roxanne’ below.
