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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
Tea In The Sahara
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Have one wish before we die
And it may sound strange
As if our minds are deranged
Please don't ask us why
Beneath the sheltering sky
We have this strange obsession
You have the means in your possession
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
The young man agreed
He would satisfy their need
So they danced for his pleasure
With a joy you could not measure
They would wait for him here
The same place every year
Beneath the sheltering sky
Across the desert he would fly
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
The sky turned to black
Would he ever come back?
They would climb a high dune
They would pray to the moon
But he'd never return
So the sisters would burn
As their eyes searched the land
With their cups full of sand
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara with you
Tea in the Sahara is a hauntingly beautiful song by The Police that tells a story of three sisters who have a strange obsession with drinking tea in the Sahara desert. They plead with a young man to accompany them to the desert to fulfil their wish before they die, and he agrees. They dance for his pleasure and every year, they wait for him in the same place, beneath the sheltering sky. However, one year he doesn't return, and the sisters are left to burn in the desert with cups full of sand as their eyes search the land.
The song’s lyrics are poetic and metaphorical, discussing the idea of human desire and how it can lead to obsession and ultimately destruction. The sisters’ fixation on tea in the Sahara is just a symbol representing a greater want that ultimately goes unfulfilled. The song's melancholic melody and Sting's incredible vocal performance enhance the overall mood of the song, making it a haunting and unforgettable listening experience.
Line by Line Meaning
My sisters and I
The singers of the story, consisting of multiple siblings.
Have one wish before we die
Their biggest desire before their death.
And it may sound strange
Acknowledging that their wish might seem peculiar.
As if our minds are deranged
Suggesting that their wish might give the impression of them being insane.
Please don't ask us why
Asking not to be questioned about their wish.
Beneath the sheltering sky
Implying that their desired activity takes place in an outdoor, desert-like environment.
We have this strange obsession
Describing their fixation on something specific that is unusual.
You have the means in your possession
Addressing the person who can make their wish come true, and stating that they have the necessary resources to fulfill it.
Tea in the Sahara with you
Their eccentric desire, which is to have tea in the middle of a desert with a specific person.
The young man agreed
The person who is able to fulfill their wish acknowledges and accepts their request.
He would satisfy their need
The young man promises to fulfill their desire.
So they danced for his pleasure
The sisters dance to show their appreciation and establish a good relationship with the young man.
With a joy you could not measure
Describing the sisters' immense happiness and excitement upon encountering the young man.
They would wait for him here
The sisters wait in the designated spot for the young man to return each year as per his promise.
The same place every year
Reiterating that they repeatedly wait in the same spot for the young man's arrival.
Across the desert he would fly
The person who would come to visit the sisters flies over the desert to reach them.
The sky turned to black
The sky transitions to night, further emphasizing the darkness of the situation.
Would he ever come back?
The sisters worry that the young man may not return to fulfill his promise, leaving them hanging.
They would climb a high dune
The sisters go up a high sand dune to try and see if the person is coming.
They would pray to the moon
The sisters resort to supernatural methods to fulfill their wish, praying to the moon.
But he'd never return
The young man fails to return, thus not fulfilling his promise to the sisters.
So the sisters would burn
The sisters suffer, presumably due to the sun and their isolation in the desert.
As their eyes searched the land
The sisters look around, scanning the desert for any signs of the young man's return.
With their cups full of sand
The sisters' cups are filled with nothing but sand, conveying their disappointment and lack of fulfillment in their wish.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Gordon Sumner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Daniel
on Roxanne
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Até agora não conseguí !
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