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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
The Bed's Too Big Without You
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The cold wind blows right through that open door
I can't sleep with your memory
Dreaming dreams of what used to be
When she left I was cold inside
That look on my face was just pride
No regrets, no love, no tears
Bed's too big without you
The bed's too big without you
The bed's too big
Without you, ow
Since that day when you'd gone
Just had to carry on
I get through day, but late at night
Made love to my pillow, but it didn't feel right
Every day, just the same
Old rules for the same old game
All I gained was heartache
All I made was one mistake
Now the bed's too big without you
The bed's too big without you
The bed's too big
Without you, ow
Bed's too big without you
The bed's too big without you
The bed's too big
Without you
Without you, pew
The bed's too big without you
Cold wind blows right through that open door
The Police's song The Bed's Too Big Without You is a reflection of the emptiness and loneliness felt by someone after their partner has left them. The first verse describes the physical manifestation of the absence of their lover, with the bed feeling too big and the cold wind blowing through the open door symbolizing the feelings of isolation and loss. The second verse reveals the emotional aftermath of the breakup, with the singer struggling to come to terms with their feelings and resorting to making love to their pillow.
The chorus reinforces the idea that the bed is too big without their partner, emphasizing the emptiness and loss the singer feels. The final verse encapsulates the futility and sorrow of the situation, with the singer realizing that they have gained nothing and made a mistake in ending the relationship, and that the bed will forever feel too big without their partner.
The song has a melancholic and bittersweet tone, reflecting on the feeling of longing and regret for love lost. It serves as a reminder that sometimes the greatest fear isn’t being alone, but being without the one we love.
Line by Line Meaning
Bed's too big without you
I feel lonely and empty without you here in my bed
The cold wind blows right through that open door
The room is cold and drafty without you closing the door before you went to bed
I can't sleep with your memory
Thoughts of you keep me awake all night
Dreaming dreams of what used to be
In my sleep, I relive the moments we shared before you left
When she left I was cold inside
I felt empty and numb when you walked out of my life
That look on my face was just pride
My demeanor masked the hurt and pain I felt from losing you
No regrets, no love, no tears
I'm trying to convince myself I don't care by denying my emotions
Living on my own was the least of my fears
Being alone doesn't scare me as much as living without you by my side
Since that day when you'd gone
My life has never been the same since you left
Just had to carry on
Despite the pain, I have no choice but to keep moving forward
I get through day, but late at night
I can manage to keep myself occupied during the day, but the nights are the hardest
Made love to my pillow, but it didn't feel right
I tried to fill the void by pretending my pillow was you, but it's not the same
Every day, just the same
My life has become repetitive since you left
Old rules for the same old game
I'm still playing the same game, but without you it's lost its meaning
All I gained was heartache
Losing you has caused me so much emotional pain
All I made was one mistake
Losing you was the biggest mistake I ever made
Now the bed's too big without you
Without you, my bed feels too large and empty
Without you, ow
I feel lost and incomplete without you
The bed's too big
The physical size of the bed highlights how much space you used to fill
Without you, pew
I miss you so much that even the thought of you leaving me hurts
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Gordon Sumner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Rusty Kuntz
I prefer this version much more than the original. The bass is so much more present and in your face in MONO.
Jo Ferreira
Do you have more sounds mono mix ?
Josh's Music Library
This was the only mono mix that has been released on CD by the Police (from my understanding) but there are probably some mono mixes released by them put on physical vinyl!