Every Breath You Take

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"Every Breath You Take", a song written by Sting and originally performed by The Police, was first released on Synchronicity, a blockbuster 1983 album (see 1983 in music). The single was one of the biggest of 1983, topping 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".

While the song sounds like a sedate and seemingly harmonious love ballad, it was actually written during the collapse of Sting's marriage to Frances Tomelty; the lyrics describe not well-meaning love but the motivations of a stalker, who is watching "every breath you take/every move you make". However, this fact has often gone unnoticed, or is ignored, and hence the song is often incorrectly classed as a love song. The song is an example of compound AABA form. Steve Huey of [allmusic.com] says:

"Guitarist Andy Summers picks a nearly identical arpeggio pattern on each chord he plays, and Sting's bass line keeps a steady eighth-note pulse without much rhythmic variation."[link]

And this lack of rhythmic variation (which in other songs may be considered boring), is actually what gives the song its compellingly hypnotic atmosphere and matches the song's lyrics perfectly.

The song had a music video (directed by duo Godley & Creme) that was highly praised for its evocative black and white cinematography that many thought enhanced the song's lyrics. Both MTV (1999) and VH1 (2002) named it as one of the best music videos ever, placing it 16th and 33rd in their respective top 100 lists.

In the late 1980s, Sting performed a version for Spitting Image entitled Every Bomb You Make [link] [link]. He also performed the song with slightly different lyrics at the Live 8 concert, United Kingdom on July 2, 2005, when he sang, "We'll be watching you." referring to the heads of the G8.

Sting takes in an average of $2000.00 per day in royalties for the now 23-year-old song "Every Breath You Take." (Source: CBS - 60 Minutes II 'Sting: All This Time' [link])

"Every Breath You Take" is based off a Phil Spector produced song by Gene Pitney titled "Every Breath I Take".

The song's hook was the basis for Puff Daddy's collaborative tribute to slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G., entitled "I'll Be Missing You", recorded with Faith Evans and 112. The song was performed with Sting himself at the MTV Video Music Awards. As with many of Puff Daddy's releases, his song was criticized for a perceived over-reliance on the original.

The song was also memorably used in episode 27 ("Mr Ruggerio's Neighborhood") of the television drama The Sopranos, as a mix with the Peter Gunn theme, whilst the FBI's operation to 'bug' Tony's basement went into full effect.

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External links

[Lyrics]
[Recording The Police's Every Breath You Take], Mix Magazine Online, 2003

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