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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
King Of Pain
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's the same old thing as yesterday
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
There's a little black spot on the sun today, that's my soul up there
It's the same old thing as yesterday, that's my soul up there
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top, that's my soul up there
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop, that's my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall, that's my soul up there
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall, that's my soul up there
There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb, that's my soul up there
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web, that's my soul up there
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
King of pain
There's a red fox torn by a huntmen's pack, that's my soul up there
There's a black winged gull with a broken back, that's my soul up there
There's a little black spot on the sun today
It's the same old thing as yesterday
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
King of pain
King of pain, king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
The lyrics to The Police's "King of Pain" describe a sense of despair and hopelessness, as the singer sees symbols of suffering and pain all around him. The repetition of the phrase "that's my soul up there" suggests that these images are representative of the singer's inner turmoil. The little black spot on the sun, black hat caught in a tree, and flag pole rag blowing in the wind all represent enduring pain and loss that don't seem to go away. The fossil trapped in a cliff wall, dead salmon frozen in a waterfall, blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb, and butterfly trapped in a spider's web all symbolize different types of suffering, highlighting how the singer is constantly surrounded by pain that he cannot escape.
The singer is portrayed as a king of pain, destined to suffer and always hoping that someone will end his reign. The repetition of the phrase "I have stood here before inside the pouring rain" suggests a cycle of pain and suffering that the singer cannot break free from. The final lines of the song depict various characters who are also suffering, including a king with his eyes torn out, a blind man looking for doubt, a rich man sleeping on a golden bed, and a skeleton choking on bread. These characters underscore the universal nature of suffering, suggesting that the singer is not alone in his pain.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a little black spot on the sun today
I am feeling unsettled, as though there is something dark hanging over me
It's the same old thing as yesterday
This feeling of being weighed down by something is constant
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top
I feel stuck, like I'm reaching for something that's just out of my grasp
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop
I am in a state of constant unease, like the winds of change won't let me find my footing
I have stood here before inside the pouring rain
I have been through rough times like this before, feeling stuck and unsettled
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
The chaos of the world makes me feel like my thoughts are spinning in circles, without any clear direction
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
I keep hoping that someone or something will come along to end the cycle of pain and unease
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain
Despite my hopes, I realize that this weight and unease is something I will likely have to carry with me for a long time
There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall
This feeling of being stuck and weighed down is like being trapped in stone, unchanging and immovable
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall
The sense of being trapped in a cycle of pain is like being frozen in time, unable to move forward
There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb
These feelings are so overwhelming that they leave me feeling stranded and unable to move forward
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web
This vulnerability and sense of being trapped is like a beautiful butterfly caught in a spider's web
There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out
This powerlessness and sense of being caught in a cycle of pain is like a king without his sight, unable to see a way out
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt
I feel like a blind man, searching for answers and unable to see what is right in front of me
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed
Even those who seem to have it all are not immune to the kinds of pain and unease that I am feeling
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
Even something as simple as food can become a source of pain and discomfort, like a skeleton choking on a crust of bread
King of pain
This sense of being trapped and weighed down has become my identity - I am the king of pain
I'll always be king of pain
These feelings are likely to always be a part of me, and something that I will need to learn to live with
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Gordon Sumner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel
on Roxanne
Algum leitor sabe a letra de Saludos Caballeros ?
Até agora não conseguí !
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