The Police was a rock band which formed in 1977 in London, England. The ban… Read Full Bio ↴The Police was a rock band which formed in 1977 in London, England. The band consisted of Sting (vocals, bass), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums). The band released five albums -- "Outlandos d'Amour" (1978), "Reggatta de Blanc" (1979), "Zenyatta Mondatta" (1980), "Ghost in the Machine" (1982) and "Synchronicity" (1983) -- before entering a hiatus in 1984 and ultimately disbanding in 1986

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)

Contact
The Police Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I've got a lump in my throat about the note you wrote
I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat

Have we got contact
You and me?
Have we got touchdown
Can't we be?

I've got contacts in my book and in my eyes
My good connection on the telephone never lies

Have we got contact
You and me?
Have we got touchdown
Can't we be?

I've got a list of the people I have known
I'm never alone on the end of a phone

Have we got contact
You and me?
Have we got touchdown
Can't we be?

I've got a lump in my throat about the note you wrote
I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat
I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat

Have we got touchdown
Can't we be?
Have we got contact
You and me?
Have we got touchdown
Can't we be?
Have we got contact
You and me?

Have we got touchdown
Can't we be?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of The Police's song Contact refer to our human desire for connection and communication with others. The singer appears to have received a note that has left them feeling emotional and with a sense of urgency to reach out to the person who wrote it. However, they feel hesitant due to a physical hindrance, in this case, not having a raincoat to protect them from the rain should they visit the person. The lyrics mention the idea of having contact and touchdown, which in this context refer to the ability to connect with someone on a personal and emotional level. The singer expresses their confidence in having good connections through their contacts in their book and eyes, and their reliable telephone connection.

The song's chorus repeats the questions, "Have we got contact? You and me? Have we got touchdown? Can't we be?" These lines again emphasize the desire for connection and the uncertainty around whether or not it exists with this particular person. The singer ends the song repeating the line, "I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat," which reinforces the idea of physical barriers getting in the way of emotional connections.

Line by Line Meaning

I've got a lump in my throat about the note you wrote
I am feeling overwhelmed with emotion due to the message that you wrote

I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat
I would visit you but I am not fully prepared

Have we got contact You and me? Have we got touchdown Can't we be?
Do we have a connection, can we reach each other? Can we find common ground and establish a relationship?

I've got contacts in my book and in my eyes My good connection on the telephone never lies
I have many acquaintances and friends, and I trust my communication with them to be truthful

I've got a list of the people I have known I'm never alone on the end of a phone
I keep track of past relationships and know that I have support available through communication

Have we got touchdown Can't we be? Have we got contact You and me?
Can we successfully connect with each other and establish a relationship?

I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat I'd come on over but I haven't got a raincoat
I still want to visit you, but I am still unprepared

Have we got touchdown Can't we be? Have we got contact You and me? Have we got touchdown Can't we be? Have we got contact You and me? Have we got touchdown Can't we be?
Repeatedly asking if we can establish a connection, find common ground, and establish a relationship

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Stewart Copeland

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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