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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
One World
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
It's a subject we rarely mention
But when we do we have this little invention
By pretending they're a different world from me
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
The third world breathes our air tomorrow
We live on the time we borrow
In our world there's no time for sorrow
In their world there is no tomorrow
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
Lines are drawn upon the world
Before we get our flags unfurled
Whichever one we pick
It's just a self deluding trick
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
I don't want to bring a sour note
Remember this before you vote
We can all sink or we all float
'Cause we're all in the same big boat
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
One world is enough
For all of us
It may seem a million miles away
But it gets a little closer everyday
It may seem a million miles away
But it gets a little closer everyday
It may seem a million miles away
But it gets a little closer everyday
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
One world
The Police's song "One World" was released in 1983 and its lyrics promote the idea that the world should function as a single community. The song starts with the repetition of the phrase "One world is enough for all of us," which serves to emphasize the central message of the song. The lead singer, Sting, then goes on to highlight that although people pretend that others are from a different world, if they accept that there is only one world, they will be more responsible.
The song's lyrics speak to the inequality between the developed and the undeveloped countries, exemplified in the line, "The third world breathes our air tomorrow, we live on the time we borrow." Here, Sting is making a statement about the impact of the developed world's actions, like pollution, on the underdeveloped world. He's saying that the first world should be careful with their actions because they will invariably impact others who do not have the means to protect themselves. Towards the end of the song, Sting urges the listener to think about the bigger picture, and to understand that "we're all in the same big boat."
Overall, "One World" delivers an optimistic message about the possibility of there being one world community without borders. The song's central message is that if we recognize the world as one, we will have a better understanding of the shared problems that confront us all.
Line by Line Meaning
One world is enough
Despite our differences, we can all live together in one world
For all of us
Not just for a select few, but for everyone
It's a subject we rarely mention
We seldom talk about the issue of a shared world
But when we do we have this little invention
When we bring up the topic, we have a solution
By pretending they're a different world from me
We falsely assume that those from other parts of the world are vastly different from us
I show my responsibility
By acknowledging the reality that we share the planet, we take responsibility for our actions and their impact on others
The third world breathes our air tomorrow
The environmental repercussions of our actions affect all people in all parts of the world
We live on the time we borrow
Our time on Earth is limited and we must be responsible with the time we have
In our world there's no time for sorrow
We often get too caught up in our own needs and problems to empathize with others
In their world there is no tomorrow
People in less privileged regions of the world may not have the same resources and opportunities as those in more developed places
Lines are drawn upon the world
The geopolitical boundaries that divide us are arbitrary and human-made
Before we get our flags unfurled
Before we are divided by nationalistic identities
Whichever one we pick
No matter what national identity we choose to identify with
It's just a self deluding trick
It's an illusion to think that our identities define us more than our shared humanity
I don't want to bring a sour note
I do not want to sound negative, but realistic
Remember this before you vote
Keep this in mind when making political decisions
We can all sink or we all float
We are all interconnected and by working together, we can either succeed or fail together
'Cause we're all in the same big boat
Regardless of nationality, we are all on this planet together
It may seem a million miles away
The reality of sharing a world with people from different walks of life may seem distant or foreign
But it gets a little closer everyday
With global interconnectedness increasing every day, we are brought closer together
One world
We need to work towards a shared future, a future built on peace and understanding
One world
Our commonalities, despite our differences, connect us and can bring us together
One world
We share a planet, and we should all work towards sustainability and coexistence
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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