One of the most misinterpreted songs in music history is none other than The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’. Often mistaken as a romantic ballad, this haunting melody is actually about an obsessive stalker. Imagine that! Many have even gone so far as to use it as their wedding song, blissfully unaware of its dark, sinister meaning.
Sting, the frontman of The Police, revealed the chilling truth behind the lyrics. After his separation from his first wife, Frances Tomelty, Sting penned this track. In an eye-opening 1983 interview with New Musical Express, he described the song as “a nasty little song, really rather evil. It’s about jealousy and surveillance and ownership.”
He further added, “I think the ambiguity is intrinsic in the song however you treat it because the words are so sadistic. On the surface, it sounds like a gentle tune with classic relative minor chords, but beneath lurks a disturbing character watching every move obsessively. I even saw Andy Gibb perform it on TV, passionately and lovingly, completely missing the point. It made me laugh hysterically because the lyrics aren’t about love at all.”
This eerie composition dominated America’s music scene in 1983, clinching the title of the biggest hit of the year on Billboard’s year-end chart. It stayed at #1 for eight weeks, a record-breaking feat, marginally outlasting Michael Jackson’s legendary “Billie Jean.”
Interestingly, Sting wrote this masterpiece at the same desk in Jamaica as Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. At the peak of The Police’s popularity, the band sought exotic locations to enhance creativity. Sting asserted stronger control during recordings, leaving less room for collaboration. This tension led to Synchronicity becoming the band’s fifth and final studio album, with “Every Breath You Take” as its first single.
The lyrics themselves are a relentless repetition of surveillance and control:
“Every breath you take
And every move you make
Every bond you break
Every step you take
I’ll be watching you…”
This chilling refrain captures the eerie essence of obsession and possessiveness, artfully disguised in a melodic cloak.
For those who thought this was a love song, Sting’s candid confessions shatter that illusion and reveal a dark psychological portrait of jealousy and possession, leaving listeners with a spine-tingling reminder: sometimes, what seems like love is something far more sinister.
