The band reunited in January 2007 for a reunion tour that lasted until August 2008.
Biography
The Police formed in early 1977 in London by Stewart Copeland (drums), Gordon Sumner, better known as Sting (bass and lead vocals), and Henry Padovani (guitar). Andy Summers later joined the group, and after a very short stint as a quartet, Padovani left the band. The Police became one of the most popular bands in the late 70s and throughout the 80s.
The Police are notable as one of the first mainstream white pop groups to adopt reggae as a predominant musical form and to score major international hits with reggae-styled material. (The first all-white reggae band with permanent members and frequent recording in Europe was Peps Blodsband, lead by Peps Persson from south Sweden who changed from blues to reggae 1974/75). Although reggae was already very popular in the United Kingdom (due to the large number of Caribbean immigrants) and a number of Western European countries, reggae was little known in the United States and rejected by most black artists in U.S, and prior to the emergence of the Police only a handful of reggae songs had enjoyed any significant chart success. The Police, UB40, The Clash and Bob Marley (Jamaican, partly living in England after being shot in Jamaica, are considered with a number of new wave, rock and ska bands as one of the leaders of the Second British Invasion of the U.S.
The Police were strongly influenced by reggae (especially reggae drumming and base lines), jazz and, in the beginning, punk rock – something that came to be shifted more and more towards pop during the 80s. Their lyrics also changed from challenging, but yet somewhat politically restrained punk- and new wave lyrics, to after 1982 in some songs emphasize environmental awareness and human oneness. The biggest hits, however, had romantic or sexual themes. The Police met together with other "white" British bands which played reggae, as UB40, criticism from black English rastafarian reggae bands like Aswad (in a BBC documentary on TV) and Steel Pulse, for being accomplices in the music industry of "Babylon", stealing the Caribbean slave descendants' musical treasure. This criticism has later been withdrawn. Aswad has even made the covers of Police songs like "Roxanne".
Tension grew between the band members, because unlike most other bands, they did not share songwriting credits. They released their last album, Synchronicity, in 1983, selling over 8 million copies. Synchronicity is critically regarded as their best album, with hits such as Synchronicity II, King of Pain, and probably their best known song, Every Breath You Take. In 1984, after touring in support of Synchronicity, The Police went on hiatus while Sting pursued his acting and solo music careers. Two years later, The Police reformed and played a few concerts for Amnesty International. Soon after the band went into the studio. Sting wanted to re-record their old songs but Andy and Stewart wanted to leave the originals alone and only two songs were re-recorded during these studio sessions. Although the group is considered to have disbanded in 1984, 1986 was the last time The Police engaged in any musical activity.
In 1992 the band released "Message in a Box", their 4 CD box set, and performed at Sting's wedding to Trudie Styler. A live CD was released in June 1995. On March 10, 2003 The Police were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and performed Message in a Bottle, Roxanne and Every Breath You Take.
The Police reformed in 2007 and opened the Grammy award ceremony of that year with a performance of Roxanne. Towards the end of May the band began a world tour. In 2008 the tour ended at Madison Square Garden, New York on August 7, and The Police disbanded for good. Sting was quoted towards the end of the tour that he had achieved closure with the band and revealed that The Police would never tour or record again.
Sting has said that the material on the album Ghost in the Machine were inspired by the writings of Arthur Koestler, and that the Police's final studio album Synchronicity was influenced by the writings of Carl Jung. Sting also peppers his songs with literary allusions: the song "Don't Stand So Close to Me" mentions Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita; "Tea in the Sahara" alludes to the novel The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles; and "Wrapped Around Your Finger" refers both to the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis, from Greek mythology, and to Mephistopheles, from the German legend of Faust .
Discography
* Outlandos d'Amour (1978)
* Reggatta de Blanc (1979)
* Zenyatta Mondatta (1980)
* Ghost in the Machine (1981)
* Synchronicity (1983)
13
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I wish I had another sister
For me
I'd take her to the park
While you were at work
How many kinds of people do you think there really are
For me?
Enough to fill a mall
One sunset falls on the sea
You are not crying
Oh what a girl
I wish we had a conversation
Face to face
Cuz when you speak
You speak in waves
But then you go into your secret place and hide
From me?
I wanna look in all the dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark comers
One season you wait and see
You are not crying
One lover turns into me
You are not crying
For me
Oh Argentina
Born in 1988
Give or take
We share bottles
We share gum
When you smile
You smile with all your teeth at once
Oh what a girl I want you wearing my t-shirt
XL
Yeah, you wear it well
How many kinds of people do you think there really are
For me?
I want to see you in the bright, bright, bright, bright, bright, bright, bright, bright morning
One sunset pink on the sea
You are not crying
One lover turns into me
You are not crying
For me
Oh, Argentina
Born in 1988
Give or take a year or month a wedding day
We share bottles
We share gum
When you smile
You smile with all your teeth at once
And when you smile with all your teeth
Yeah, I'm done
And when you smile with all your teeth
Yeah, I'm done
I don't want to want you like I want you
I don't want to want you like I want you
I don't want to want you like I want you
I don't want to want you like I want you
I don't want to want you like I want you
Television wakes me up
With the sound of a gun
Feeling like I'm here alone
But I'm not the only one
You were lying next to me
Wearing someone else's clothes
Have I been asleep for long
In the informercial glow
Now I see the things that I have done
Everything in focus all at once
When I was an infant
I could see it clear
When I was a lover
I could see it clear
And yeah
I could be a fool
Sometimes
But I was a lover
And I could see it clear
'Cause if I had known
That you were
Only here for the weekend
'Cause if I had only known
What you were thinking
I would have been
So, so, so, so
Much nicer
So, so, so, so
Much nicer
If I was a lighthouse
I would look all
Over the place
If i was an asshole
Thank you for keeping
A smile on your face
And yeah
I could be a fool
Most of the time
But I was a lover
And I could see it clear
'Cause if I had known
That you were
Only here for the weekend
'Cause if I had only known
What you were thinking
I would have been
So, so, so, so
Much nicer
So, so, so, so
Much nicer
Yeah
I can see it
I can see it
Clear
I can see it
Clear
The song "13" by The Police has a complex and introspective set of lyrics that seems to be about the emotions and memories of a past relationship. The singer appears to be thinking about a lost love, and wishes that they could have had more time together. The line "Oh what a girl, I wish I had another sister for me, I'd take her to the park while you were at work" suggests that the singer is longing for the company of someone special during times when their significant other couldn't be with them. The lyric "How many kinds of people do you think there really are for me? Enough to fill a room, enough to fill a mall" seems to suggest that the singer is searching for someone to share their life with, and that there are many different kinds of people that they could potentially connect with.
The line "One sunset falls on the sea, you are not crying" seems to suggest that the singer is reflecting on a moment from their past relationship when they watched the sun set together. This line is followed by "One lover turns into me, you are not crying for me", which could mean that the singer has transformed into someone who is unrecognizable to their former partner. The lyric "Oh Argentina, born in 1988, give or take a year or month or wedding day, we share bottles, we share gum" could be a reference to a specific person or memory from the singer's past.
Overall, the song seems to be a complex and reflective exploration of the emotions and memories associated with a past relationship, and the desire to move on and find someone new.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh what a girl
The singer is admiring a girl he finds remarkable.
I wish I had another sister
The singer wishes that the girl was his sister so he could be closer to her.
For me
The singer wants the girl to be near him.
I'd take her to the park
The artist wants to spend time with the girl and have fun together.
While you were at work
The artist wants to spend time with the girl when she is not busy with other things.
How many kinds of people do you think there really are
The singer is curious about the diversity of people in the world.
Enough to fill a room
The singer thinks that there are a lot of people in the world.
Enough to fill a mall
The artist thinks that the number of people in different situations could be large.
One sunset falls on the sea
A poetic description of a sunset on the ocean.
You are not crying
The artist notices that the girl is not emotional in this moment.
Oh what a girl
The singer is still admiring the girl.
I wish we had a conversation
The artist wants to talk to the girl face-to-face.
Face to face
The singer wants to talk to the girl in person.
Cuz when you speak
The singer is complimenting the girl's voice.
You speak in waves
The singer is describing the sound of the girl's voice as undulating.
But then you go into your secret place and hide
The artist is saying that the girl's personality can be elusive or hard-to-reach.
From me?
The artist is questioning if the girl is avoiding him or hiding things from him.
I wanna look in all the dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark, dark corners
The singer wants to discover all of the aspects of the girl's personality that she keeps hidden.
One season you wait and see
A poetic description of a season passing by.
You are not crying
The artist notices that the girl is not emotional in this moment.
One lover turns into me
The artist is saying that he has become one of the girl's lovers.
Oh Argentina
The artist is calling out a location or person's name.
Born in 1988
A detail about the singer or someone else.
Give or take
An approximation or estimation of a time or number.
We share bottles
The singer and the girl are sharing a drink together.
We share gum
The singer and the girl are sharing chewing gum together.
When you smile
The singer describes the girl's smile.
You smile with all your teeth at once
The artist is describing the girl's smile as wide or happy.
Yeah, you wear it well
The artist is saying that the girl looks good in his shirt.
I want to see you in the bright, bright, bright, bright, bright, bright, bright, bright morning
The singer wants to see the girl when the sun is shining brightly.
If I was a lighthouse
The singer is imagining themselves as a lighthouse.
I would look all over the place
The artist would be vigilant and watchful if they were a lighthouse.
If i was an asshole
The artist is reflecting on their own personality.
Thank you for keeping a smile on your face
The artist is expressing gratitude that the girl was polite or kind to them.
Yeah I could be a fool
The singer is acknowledging that they have made mistakes in the past.
Most of the time
The artist admits that they are often foolish.
'Cause if I had known That you were Only here for the weekend
The singer is saying that he would have acted differently if he had known that the girl was only going to be around for a short time.
What you were thinking
The singer is wondering what was going through the girl's mind during their time together.
I would have been So, so, so, so Much nicer
The singer is lamenting that they were not more kind or thoughtful towards the girl.
Television wakes me up With the sound of a gun
The artist wakes up to a program that includes gunfire or violence.
Feeling like I'm here alone But I'm not the only one
The artist feels like they are lonely, but they know that there are other people around.
You were lying next to me Wearing someone else's clothes
The singer wakes up next to the girl, but she is wearing clothes that don't belong to her.
Have I been asleep for long In the informercial glow
The singer is questioning if they have slept for a long time and if the television has been on during that time.
Now I see the things that I have done Everything in focus all at once
The artist is reflecting on their past actions and having a moment of clarity or insight.
When I was an infant I could see it clear
The artist is reflecting on their younger self and how they saw things more easily.
When I was a lover I could see it clear
The artist is saying that when they were in love, they were able to see things more clearly.
And yeah I could be a fool Sometimes
The singer admits that they are not always correct or sensible.
But I was a lover And I could see it clear
The artist is saying that they gained perspective when they were in love.
Clear
The singer is emphasizing that they can see things clearly now.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel
on Roxanne
Algum leitor sabe a letra de Saludos Caballeros ?
Até agora não conseguí !
daprendiz1@gmail.com