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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
Mother
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is that my mother on the phone?
Telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
The telephone is screaming
Won't she leave me alone?
The telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
Well every girl that I go out with
Becomes my mother in the end
Every girl I go out with
Becomes my mother in the end
Well I hear my mother calling
But I don't need her as a friend
Well every girl I go out with
Becomes my mother in the end
Oh, oh mother
Oh mother dear please listen
And don't devour me
Oh mother dear please listen
Don't devour me
Oh women please have mercy
Let this poor boy be
Oh mother dear please listen
And don't devour me
Oh mother
Well the telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
Telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
The telephone is screaming
Won't she leave me alone?
The telephone is ringing
Is that my mother on the phone?
Oh, mother
The song "Mother" by The Police is about the singer's complicated relationship with his mother. The opening lines set the scene for the rest of the song, with the singer wondering if the ringing telephone is his mother calling yet again. The repetition of this line and the use of the word "screaming" indicates that the singer feels suffocated and frustrated by his mother's constant presence in his life.
The next stanza reveals that the singer has a pattern of dating women who eventually become like his mother in their behavior towards him. The repetition of the line "Every girl I go out with becomes my mother in the end" suggests that he is aware of this pattern but feels powerless to avoid it. He longs for independence from his overbearing mother and the women who resemble her, but he feels trapped and unable to break free.
The final stanza repeats the opening lines once more, with the singer still feeling overwhelmed by his mother's presence in his life. The plea for mercy from women is a cry for freedom and a release from the cycle of being controlled by maternal figures. Ultimately, "Mother" is a haunting and introspective examination of the complex emotions and dynamics that can exist within a mother-son relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Well the telephone is ringing
The sound of the phone is heard.
Is that my mother on the phone?
I wonder if the person calling is my mother.
Telephone is ringing
The phone is ringing once again.
Is that my mother on the phone?
I wonder if the person calling is my mother.
The telephone is screaming
The phone is ringing loudly and persistently.
Won't she leave me alone?
I wish she would stop calling me.
Well every girl that I go out with
Every woman that I date.
Becomes my mother in the end
Starts acting like my mother.
Every girl I go out with
Every woman that I date.
Becomes my mother in the end
Starts acting like my mother.
Well I hear my mother calling
I can't escape the influence of my mother.
But I don't need her as a friend
I don't want my mother to meddle in my life.
Oh, oh mother
Expression of frustration or annoyance with my mother.
Oh mother dear please listen
I am pleading with my mother to listen to me.
And don't devour me
I don't want my mother to control or dominate me.
Oh mother dear please listen
I am pleading with my mother to listen to me.
Don't devour me
I don't want my mother to control or dominate me.
Oh women please have mercy
A plea to all women to be kind to me.
Let this poor boy be
I just want to be left alone to live my life.
Oh mother dear please listen
I am pleading with my mother to listen to me.
And don't devour me
I don't want my mother to control or dominate me.
Oh mother
Expression of frustration or annoyance with my mother.
Well the telephone is ringing
The sound of the phone is heard.
Is that my mother on the phone?
I wonder if the person calling is my mother.
Telephone is ringing
The phone is ringing once again.
Is that my mother on the phone?
I wonder if the person calling is my mother.
The telephone is screaming
The phone is ringing loudly and persistently.
Won't she leave me alone?
I wish she would stop calling me.
The telephone is ringing
The sound of the phone is heard.
Is that my mother on the phone?
I wonder if the person calling is my mother.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Andy Summers
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel
on Roxanne
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Até agora não conseguí !
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