Don't Laugh, It Just Encourages Him by Wild Pig UK

Just enough time today to finally post another Story behind the Music. Hope you all enjoy, and as always, I’d love to hear any cool story behind a song that you know.

The Police: Every Breath You Take

Edited from Multiple Sources, including Wikipedia:

"Every Breath You Take" is a song written by Sting and originally performed by The Police. It was released on their 1983 album Synchronicity. The single was one of the biggest of 1983, topping the UK charts for four weeks and the Billboard Music Charts (North America) for eight weeks. Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards of 1984 for "Every Breath You Take".

The track was written during the collapse of Sting's marriage to Frances Tomelty; the lyrics are the words of a sinister, controlling character, who is watching "every breath you take / every move you make".

“	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. 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.	”
—Sting

However, this fact has often gone unnoticed, or is ignored, and hence the song is often taken to be a love song. I once saw Sting discuss this song on VH1, and thought two of his quotes were really interesting:

“

People often miss the fact that the song is actually quite sinister, about love gone wrong and unhealthy obsession following a break-up. People often come up to me and say ‘We played that song at our wedding. I can’t help but say ‘Well, good luck with that…’

”

—Sting

“

That bloody song was always on the radio, and to tell the truth I was both a little embarrassed by it, and very sick of it. Then one day I was told by a DJ in a live interview that Every Breath You Take was the number 1 most played song in the 1980’s. That’s when it hit me, and I almost couldn’t continue the interview I was so staggered/humbled… the most played song, and I wrote it. Not a bad day… even if I still can’t stand to hear it on the radio.

”

—Sting

Song Facts:

This was the biggest hit of 1983. It was US #1 for 8 weeks.

The recording process created a great deal of tension in the studio. Sting was very particular about his song and would not let the other members of The Police (Andy Summers and Stuart Copeland) do much with it. The Police broke up after this album.

The middle of the song was finished last. They didn't know what to do with it until Sting sat at a piano and started hitting the same key over and over. That became the basis for the missing section.

Sting knew this would be the band's biggest hit when he wrote it.

This won Grammys in 1984 for Song Of The Year and Best Pop Performance By Duo Or Group With Vocal.

At the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1983, this won for Best Cinematography.

P. Diddy (known as Puff Daddy at the time), sampled this on "I'll Be Missing You," his 1997 tribute to rapper Notorious B.I.G. Sting didn't know about the sample until after the song was released. He ended up making lots of money from it, claiming he put some of his kids through college with the proceeds. Sting performed "I'll Be Missing You" with P. Diddy at the MTV Video Music Awards, and the two remain friends.

Sting performed this on a 2001 episode of Ally McBeal. In the show, he was sued by a couple who broke up after one of his sexually suggestive concerts.

Robert Downey Jr., who was on Ally McBeal at the time, recorded a duet of this with Sting for an album from the show called For Once In My Life. Downey was arrested and sent back to drug rehab soon after it was released.

This appears on the soundtrack of the 1999 Julia Roberts movie Runaway Bride. It was also used in the movie The Replacements.

The Police performed this when they were inducted in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2003. They were inducted by No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani, who showed a picture of her getting an autograph from Sting when she was a chubby 13-year-old. It was the last performance of the night and the closest thing to the all-star jam that typically ends the ceremonies. The Police were joined by Stefani, Steven Tyler (who inducted AC/DC), and John Mayer, who had recently won a Grammy for his song "Your Body Is A Wonderland."

Sting re-wrote the lyrics when he performed this in 2005 at Live 8, a set of concerts organized by Bob Geldof to increase activism and demand more aid for Africa. Sting included the line, "We'll be watching you" to mean the world would be keeping an eye on the politicians making critical decisions on the fate of Africa.