The Police song from 1979 Stewart Copeland calls his favourite: “It’s a tough choice”
Forming at the zenith of punk, The Police, a trio consisting of Sting, Andy Summers, and Stewart Copeland, took the music scene by storm, delivering a unique blend of punk, reggae, and new wave that resonated with audiences on a global scale.
With infectious melodies and instrumental virtuosity, The Police rapidly separated themselves from the punk aesthetic to become one of the most widely celebrated pop-rock groups since The Beatles.
The three members of The Police were noted for their skilful musicianship and a sound identified by a colourful rhythm section. Copeland’s masterful beat-keeping and Sting’s propulsive basslines formed the essence of most of the band’s output. When adorned with Summers’ guitar stylings and Sting’s reggae-inspired vocals, it made for something unique and highly influential.
Creative differences and an air of acrimony between Copeland and Sting were cited as a factor in The Police’s disbandment in 1984 after five successful studio albums. While this factor was undoubtedly true, the trio have remained close over the past four decades and appear to agree The Police had simply run its natural course by 1984.
Since their reunion tour of 2007-08, hope was rekindled among fans regarding further reunion tours. However, in a recent interview with Music Week, Sting poured some cold water on such discussions. Asked if he’d recommend reunions to other legendary bands, Sting replied: “Once!” he said, before explaining: “You should do it once, and the timing should be right,” he added.
For Sting, the idea of revisiting The Police again is not just unnecessary but creatively hollow. He views their 2007–08 reunion as a moment that worked precisely because it was finite, a rare alignment of timing and sentiment rather than the beginning of something ongoing. Repeating it, in his eyes, would strip away that significance and turn it into little more than indulgence.
That perspective speaks to a broader understanding of how bands function. The same intensity that fuels their rise can eventually become a barrier, with personal dynamics overtaking musical instinct. By stepping away when they did and resisting the urge to return repeatedly, Sting suggests the band preserved what made The Police special rather than diluting it through overexposure.
“When the Police reunited, it had been long enough, and it was the right time to do it,” he continued. “And I’m taking credit for that because that was my decision. Doing it again would just be gratuitous, and that won’t happen. But we did it, and everyone was happy that mum and dad got back together again and had one last fling.”
Copeland previously described the band’s reunion as both a “pleasure and pain”. Sting appeared to concur with this sentiment. “It’s an intense relationship,” he said. “You start out in a band together, and you live together; you sleep in the van together; you share hotel rooms. Your life is completely welded with the other guys in the band, and that’s intense”.
He continued: “We still love each other and respect each other, but I’m happy not to be in a band. I have much more freedom and when I have my own band, everyone’s role is very clear. We just get on with the job. When a young band starts out, the roles are much more flexible and that creates tensions. But it’s all-natural, of course…I think it gives you a competitive energy, a buzz.”
“There comes a point where it just gets in the way of the creative process, and you’re dealing with ego as opposed to actual musical ideas or the currency of musical ideas. When the flow stops, that’s when a band has to break up,” he added.
Sting later confirmed that he, Copeland and guitarist Andy Summers hadn’t humoured the idea of writing any new material together. “It was – what’s the word – nostalgia, with recreating that thing for a short time. No, we didn’t even try.”
In a 2022 interview with Vulture, Copeland reflected on his time with The Police fondly and, when asked to pick out his favourite Police track, selected a Reggatta de Blanc cut that he feels is Sting’s “most beautiful” song.
“It’s a tough choice because I have personal favourites that I enjoy playing the most – that mean something to me,” he said. “Then there are the ones with the most pristine and cleverest compositions, where Sting really pulled it out of the bag and nailed it. Then other ones where the song wasn’t the best song he ever wrote, but the band made it great. There are different ways of picking a winner”.
Adding: “So I’m going to go with just my own personal taste. ‘Bring on the Night’ is the most beautiful song Sting ever wrote. The band arrangement of it is okay. It’s not even one that I particularly enjoy playing because it’s quite tricky rhythmically — it teeters on the edge. But it’s such a beautiful, poignant song.”
He concluded: “That’s the one that hits me the most emotionally — the music, the emotion in the chord progression, the message of the song, that feeling of bringing on the night,” the drummer added. “This day’s been hell, but let me have my tequila shot and let’s just change the subject. I know that feeling. I’m sure everybody knows that feeling.”
Listen to Stewart Copeland’s favourite song by The Police below.
