When they formed The Police in London in 1977, Stewart Copeland, Sting, and Andy Summers were all veteran musicians. Copeland had drummed for progressive rock band Curved Air, Sting had played in the jazz fusion band Last Exit, while Summers’ career as a guitarist dated back to the 1960s when he played with The Animals and Soft Machine.
The Police released their debut in 1978, and by the time of their final album, 1983’s Synchronicity, they were arguably the world’s most popular band.
Their albums are patchy, but The Police were arguably the best singles band of their era. Their intelligent rock and reggae blend topped the UK singles charts five times. Sting was a terrific writer and lead vocalist, while Summers and Copeland added their distinctive musical personalities. Summers’ guitar lines are often unexpected, while Copeland is a virtuoso drummer, especially his sophisticated hi-hat work.
Songs unlucky to miss the cut include ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’ and the b-side ‘I Burn For You’.
10 Best Police Songs
#10 It’s Alright For You
from Regatta de Blanc, 1979
Sting wrote most of The Police’s big hits, but Stewart Copeland has writing credits on more than half of Reggatta De Blanc, the group’s strongest album. He wrote the fast, punky ‘It’s Alright For You’ with Sting.
The Police often eschewed punk for more sophisticated genres, but ‘It’s Alright For You’ is a strong entry in their catalogue.
#9 Omegaman
from Ghost in the Machine, 1981
Andy Summers wrote ‘Omegaman’. It was inspired by two post-apocalyptic works: the book I Am Legend and the film The Omega Man. It’s a driving rock song, with an off-kilter King Crimson riff in the chorus.
A&M selected Andy Summers’ ‘Omegaman’ as the lead single from Ghost in the Machine, but Sting vetoed the choice.
#8 Roxanne
from Outlandos d’Amour, 1978
‘Roxanne’ was The Police’s first single for A&M Records. The prostitutes Sting observed when The Police stayed in a seedy Paris hotel inspired the song. He took the title from a character from the play Cyrano de Bergerac – a poster of which was displayed in the hotel’s foyer.
It’s slow-paced, with its tango rhythm suggested by Stewart Copeland. ‘Roxanne’ didn’t chart on its initial release in the UK, but reached the top 40 in the US.
#7 Every Breath You Take
from Synchronicity, 1983
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a band’s simplest song often becomes their most enduring. Sting’s never written a simpler song than ‘Every Breath You Take’, although its unsettling atmosphere gives it replay value. Sting later said “I think it’s a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership,”
Summers didn’t receive a writing credit, despite creating the song’s distinctive Bartok-inspired riff.
#6 Walking on the Moon
from Regatta de Blanc, 1979
Sting came up with the idea for ‘Walking on the Moon’ while drunk in a hotel room in Munich. He wrote the words “walking around the room”, and in the morning adapted them a little. Sting later stated “‘Walking Round the Room’ was a stupid title so I thought of something even more stupid which was ‘Walking on the Moon’.” The song recounted memories of walking home from his first girlfriend’s home.
It’s notable for the extreme restraint shown by Sting’s bass and Summer’s guitar – they maintain a steady pulse, while all the space in the arrangement is taken by Copeland’s virtuoso drumming.
#5 Synchronicity II
from Synchronicity, 1983
Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity, events that appear related but lack a causal connection, fascinated Sting. The Police’s final album features a pair of tracks named Synchronicity, bookending the LP’s first side. The second is stronger, a dark and paranoid rocker. Summers’ guitars are dense and propulsive, different from the band’s usual clean sound.
There’s a domestic situation where there’s a man who’s on the edge of paranoia, and as his paranoia increases a monster takes shape in a Scottish lake, the monster being a symbol of the man’s anxiety. That’s a synchronistic situation.
Sting, 1984
#4 Invisible Sun
from Ghost in the Machine, 1981
The Police embraced synths on 1981’s ambitious Ghost in the Machine. They work beautifully here, filling ‘Invisible Sun’ with foreboding.
Sting lived in Ireland when he wrote ‘Invisible Sun’. It was inspired by hunger strikes in Belfast, although Sting gave it a hopeful chorus. Meanwhile, Copeland related the song to Beirut, where he lived as a child. In 1981, it was under attack after it was labelled a terrorist stronghold.
#3 So Lonely
from Outlandos d’Amour, 1978
On their early albums, The Police combined punk and reggae. Sting explained that “People thrashing out three chords didn’t really interest us musically. Reggae was accepted in punk circles and musically more sophisticated, and we could play it, so we veered off in that direction. I mean, let’s be honest here, ‘So Lonely’ was unabashedly culled from ‘No Woman No Cry’ by Bob Marley & the Wailers. Same chorus. What we invented was this thing of going back and forth between thrash punk and reggae. That was the little niche we created for ourselves.”
Sting does a great job with the vocal improvisations at the end.
#2 King of Pain
from Synchronicity, 1983
Sting wrote ‘King of Pain’ as his first marriage was ending. It’s full of melodramatic metaphors – a dead salmon caught in a waterfall, a little black spot on the sun. The arrangement’s sparse, although Summers’ sublime guitar solo is the best moment.
‘King of Pain’ was later parodied by Weird Al as ‘King of Suede’.
“I remember this one song on Synchronicity, called “King of Pain”, which had basically everything going all the way through it. If you listen to it now, it’s very stripped down, bits and pieces coming in here and there. Literally everything was recorded all the way through and I really remember that one well — sitting down with Sting coming in one day, when we were mixing and (Sting) going, “This is s***” and I went, “I think you’re probably right.” The thing at the back of my mind always is trying to keep things simple so you can then hear what’s there, as opposed to the kitchen sink style, which is cool, sometimes. Some people do it incredibly well.”
Far Out Magazine
#1 Message in a Bottle
from Regatta de Blanc, 1979
Surprisingly, Sting wrote the distinctive guitar riff that powers ‘Message in a Bottle’. Copeland’s drums were overdubbed on six different tracks. ‘Message in a Bottle’ was the first of The Police’s five UK #1 hits.
Summers later said that “For me, it’s still the best song Sting ever came up with and the best Police track.”
Did I miss your favourite Police song?
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You got most of them except for “Don’t Stand Too Close to Me.”
Do you prefer the original or the slower 1986 version?
Definitely the original.
I’d agree with your top pick. I’m not hugely knowledgeable on the Police, but that’s my favourite of their number ones.
Looks like I only had three of their five number ones on the list which is kind of low for a singles-type band. Wish there was a Don’t Stand So Close To Me somewhere between the two versions.
Great pics and hard to narrow it down I’m sure. Good to see Stewart and Summers get a track on here as that never happens in best Police song lists. I also forgot that Stewart had more than one songwriting credit on the debut.
It took me a long time to come around to Stewart’s Miss Gradenko, but it’s one of my faves on Synchronicity now. And Summers won a Grammy for Behind My Camel.
I’m sure Summers winning a Grammy drove Stinger nuts. lol
There are stories about him trying to bury the tapes. Feels like he’s the most talented writer, but could have done more to nurture the others.
I think you hit all of them, Graham (though I just know what radio has served up). I’d have “Every Little Thing…” high up, and “Canary in a Coal Mine” somewhere here, but I’m no Police-man!
I like Canary in a Coal Mine, I had nothing from Zenyatta Mondatta, which is weird, a really even album with nothing especially good or bad for my money
Great playlist from my perspective. I didn’t recognize “It’s Alight For You” and “Omegaman,” which I both find decent. Another Police song I really dig is “Spirits in the Material World,” which like “Omegaman” is from “Ghost in the Machine.”
Those are the two deep cuts for sure, pretty much the only two Police deep cuts I love. Most of their best songs are singles.
I agree that The Police were a better singles band than an LP band, though they definitely approached recording as “albums-first” like their classic rock brethren, as non-LP singles are pretty scant. (Basically, if you bought the LPs, you didn’t miss out on anything.) As someone else said, they made good but not great albums.
All that said, my favorite long-player of theirs is Zenyatta Mondatta, an album that I find to be the most “Police” before Sting asserted his dominance on the band. And unlike the first two albums, it was the first of theirs to have much of their songs on continuous AOR airplay–besides the two big singles, I consistently heard most of Side One on my local radio station.
I know you’re not a “deep cuts” Police guy, but I feel that Regatta de Blanc is the best for that. Besides the two hits, not much got play, so there’s much to be discovered. It’s where they went the furthest into dub and atmospheric reggae with “Bring on the Night”, “Deathwish”, “The Bed’s Too Big Without You”. (Summers really shines on those first two.) It’s also the one where Copeland had the most input as Sting’s songwriting well had run a bit dry. I listened to a tape of it quite a bit during my high-school years.
It feels like they were maybe a bit rushed, particularly on the 2nd and 3rd records. Don’t think they were trying to be singles artists, but it kind of worked out that way. I think Sting albums like Nothing Like The Sun… and Soul Cages are stronger than any Police album, because he got to slow down a bit.
Regatta De Blanc is my favourite Police album – has a bunch of good deep cuts like the ones you mentioned.
Both of those albums were recorded in four weeks, which seems to be on par with most bands of their statue of that era. From reading things, things felt “relaxed” on Regatta but Sting had a songwriting slump, hence the preponderance of Copeland compositions and several recycled Sting songs from earlier bands. The band claims that they did feel rushed on Zenyatta, but maybe acting-not-thinking made it better–look at what happened when they rerecorded “Don’t Stand” in 1986. After this they had more time in the studio, which just meant more time for Sting to dominate the proceedings.
Did A&M seriously pick ‘Omegaman’ as the first single?! That astounds me. Source please… Even ‘Secret Journey’ would have been a better choice. For me, that’s the second best song on ‘Ghost’. The best is ‘Every Little Thing’ – surprised not to see that here…
“Omegaman” was at least intended to be the first single as per A&M, but Sting threw a monkey wrench into that plan, as it was a Summers composition.
Well, it shows A&M didn’t know what they were talking about… Sting was right!
I actually like “Omegaman” and think it would have been interesting if it got more exposure than being relegated to an album track. It was clear that Sting was “in charge” by this point and had always wrote the bulk of songs, but the Copeland and Summers could write good songs, if pushed to. “Omegaman” was definitely better than the Summers composition on Synchronicity, “Mother”. Maybe he would have tried harder if he thought it mattered at that point?
Have you heard Copeland’s single as Klark Kent?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ_JPx1o-bI
I think Every Little Thing is the obvious lead single, but it would have been nice if Omegaman was a single too.
Summers mentions it in the interview – https://www.avclub.com/the-police-s-andy-summers-on-his-songs-sting-and-bein-1798235391
Good spot…
If I was choosing singles from Ghost in the Machine, I would have gone:
i) Every Little Thing
ii) Invisible Sun
iii) Omegaman
Everybody seems to hate on “Every Breath You Take”, but I love it, and it’s not only my favorite Police song, it’s also my favorite song of the entire 1980s.
Cool! It’s a little overplayed for me, but it still made my top ten despite overexposure.
Ooo . . . a fun one! Mine would look something like this . . . I tend to prefer the deep cuts more than the hits . . .
10. De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
9. So Lonely
8. Spirits in the Material World
7. Synchronicity I
6. Message in a Bottle
5. Synchronicity II
4. Hungry for You (J’aurais toujours faim de toi)
3. Walking on the Moon
2. King of Pain
1. Invisible Sun
We have quite a lot of crossover in the top echelons of our lists.
I don’t think I’ve heard Hungry For You for years.
The Police I’ve always leaned toward their more fun earlier songs. I was one of the few who was not a big fan of Synchronicity… my number one song would not be shared by many others… De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da and a close second Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic. But I do like Message in a Bottle, Roxanne, and others. It’s a good list and you are right…I always thought them and The Cars released some great singles in that time period.
Sorry – looks like I left your two favourites off my list. My favourite thing about ‘De Do Do Do De Da Da Da’ is the misheard lyrics – “a llama ties me up and rapes me.” Cars are up there too, maybe Blondie as well – The Police’s body of singles seems a bit more wide ranging to me.
I can see the over-serious thing kicking in from Ghost in the Machine – Invisible Sun points to Synchronicity as well. I like Sting’s solo stuff from the 20th century too, so I’m fine with him taking himself seriously.
I get why you didn’t include them though….especially the De Do Do…one (that is a great misheard lyric). The other ones are a bit more deep so I get it…I just enjoy their lighter songs but that is just me.
Walking in the Moon is kind of silly, but I mostly went for the serious ones (not on purpose).
I agree with number one. Did a Top 50 at one stage and Message was No.1. I like your deep cuts listed here, some great ones. I like Shadows in the Rain. So did Sting I guess as he re-recorded it for Blue Turtles. .
Message is pretty amazing – catchy and complex at the same time.
Andy Summers distinctive guitar is the key on this all time classic.