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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
On Any Other Day
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You want something corny?
You got it
There's a house on my street
And it looks real neat
I'm the chap who lives in it
There's a tree on the sidewalk
I'll go for a drive in it
And when the wombat comes
He will find me gone
He'll look for a place to sit
My wife has burned the scrambled eggs
The dog just bit my leg
My teenage daughter ran away
My fine young son has turned out gay
Cut off my fingers in the
Door of my car
How could I do it?
My wife is proud to tell me
Of her love affairs
How could she do this to me?
My wife has burned the scrambled eggs
The dog just bit my leg
My teenage daughter ran away
My fine young son has turned out gay
And it would be okay on any other day
And it would be okay on any other day
Throw down the morning papers
And spill my tea
I don't know what's wrong with me
The cups and plates are in a
Conspiracy
I'm covered in misery
My wife has burned the scrambled eggs
The dog just bit my leg
My teenage daughter ran away
My fine young son has turned out gay
And it would be okay on any other day
And it would be okay on any other day
And it would be okay on any other day
And it would be okay on any other day
And it would be okay on any other day
And it would be okay on any other day
The Police’s “On Any Other Day” is a track from their sophomore album, Reggatta de Blanc, released in 1979. The song is about dealing with life’s frustrations and disappointments. The opening line “The other ones are complete bullshit” suggests that the singer is fed up with traditional ways of dealing with problems and is looking for a more honest way to express his feelings. The chorus, “And it would be okay on any other day” implies that the singer is not necessarily depressed, but rather having a bad day and wants to escape from it.
The first verse describes the singer's mundane life, living in a neat house on the street, driving a car, and encountering a wombat, an animal that is often seen as a nuisance. The second verse takes a darker tone, with the singer cutting off his fingers in the car door, his wife having an affair, and his children running away or coming out as gay. The imagery of the cups and plates being in a conspiracy towards the end of the song suggests that the singer may be paranoid or feeling like everything is going wrong.
Overall, “On Any Other Day” is a relatable song that anyone can relate to when they are feeling down or frustrated with life’s struggles. The song’s upbeat tempo and catchy melody provide a contrast to the song’s somewhat melancholy lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
The other ones are complete bullshit
All other options are terrible
You want something corny?
Are you looking for something cheesy?
You got it
I have just the thing for you
There's a house on my street
There is a house located on my street
And it looks real neat
The house looks very nice and tidy
I'm the chap who lives in it
I am the person who resides in that house
There's a tree on the sidewalk
There is a tree planted on the pavement
There's a car by the door
A vehicle is parked beside the entrance
I'll go for a drive in it
I plan on going for a ride in that car
And when the wombat comes
When the wombat arrives
He will find me gone
I will not be present when the wombat arrives
He'll look for a place to sit
The wombat will search for somewhere to rest
My wife has burned the scrambled eggs
My spouse has overcooked the eggs
The dog just bit my leg
My dog has attacked me
My teenage daughter ran away
My adolescent child has fled from home
My fine young son has turned out gay
My wonderful son is homosexual
Cut off my fingers in the
My fingers were severed in the
Door of my car
The car door caused my fingers to be cut off
How could I do it?
I am questioning my actions
My wife is proud to tell me
My spouse is satisfied to report to me
Of her love affairs
Regarding her romantic relationships with others
How could she do this to me?
I am questioning why she would behave this way
Throw down the morning papers
I am tossing aside the news publications
And spill my tea
My tea has been knocked over
I don't know what's wrong with me
I am unsure of what is causing me to feel this way
The cups and plates are in a
The cups and plates are conspiring
Conspiracy
Acting together secretly for an evil or unlawful purpose
I'm covered in misery
I am engulfed in sadness
And it would be okay on any other day
All of these problems would not matter on a different day
And it would be okay on any other day
Everything would be fine if it were not today
And it would be okay on any other day
No issues would arise on a different day
And it would be okay on any other day
Today is just a bad day, it will get better
And it would be okay on any other day
Other days would not have the same problems as today
And it would be okay on any other day
All of this would not be an issue on another day
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Stewart Copeland
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
David Lazarus
Sting - If you happen to read this, please get with Peter Gabriel about releasing a Rock, Paper, Scissors tour DVD. It would be very much a shame not to have an official document of that historic tour.
Tom
Sting - If you happen to read this, please get together with Stu and Andy and record some refreshing creative rock.
Eric B Gordon
Sting could probably end up being one of those heroes that go out with the boots on.