The classic rock anthem The Police’s Andy Summers didn’t like: “It was a corny pop song”
Like it or not, there is one song by The Police that will forever be etched not just into their discography but into the realm of rock as a whole. Some might argue it’s too obvious a choice when it comes to the greatest rock ballads of all time, but there’s a reason why such a song became so popular in the first place, and it’s because it adopted the perfect balance of musical prowess and emotional appeal.
‘Every Breath You Take’ is perhaps one of the most instantly recognisable rock tunes out there, its deeply emotive riff laying the perfect groundwork for Sting’s devotional lyrics. Although the ages haven’t been the kindest when it comes to its lyrical content, the fact of the matter is this is one of the greatest songs ever written, and you only have to look at the numbers to recognise the truth in that.
The comfort of such an immensely accessible love song and its underlying oddities have not gone undetected, especially in Sting’s view, who recognised that at the time, he didn’t realise how “sinister” the words sounded. “I’ll be watching you” is enough to incite unease in anybody, but somehow, in this particular register, he pulls it off under the guise of romance.
Perhaps another feature that enabled the song to become an instant hit was how simplified it was, following an easy chord progression that isn’t challenging to listen to in any way, shape, or form. “I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head, sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour,” Sting recalled. “The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others, but the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song.”
While recording the song, the band had a tough time remaining aligned, but after a desperate visit to fifth Beatle George Martin, they rekindled their magic and returned to the studio to record the song. Perhaps this is why it became the entity it did, but for Andy Summers, matters became much more organic when he entered the studio and followed his gut, even if he wasn’t entirely convinced he liked the song.
“I didn’t like it,” Summers explained. Elaborating further, he continued: “I always thought, ‘This is a corny pop song’. I was more into Thelonious Monk, but [Sting] goes, ‘Go on, go in there and make it your own’. So I gave it one take and [plays the ‘Every Breath You Take’ riff]. Once I played that guitar line, that was it. Went straight to number one.”
In the moments leading up to recording this particular song, it might have seemed like all odds were against them making something that would lace their final album in sparkling grace, but this no doubt did it. Considering the array of hits that came out of 1983, ‘Every Breath You Take’ confirmed The Police’s enduring claim on the genre.
