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 This criticism has later been withdrawn.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)
Walking on the Moon
The Police Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Walking on the moon
I hope my leg don't break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could live together
Walking on, walking on the moon
Walking back from your house
Walking on the moon
Walking back from your house
Walking on the moon
Feet they hardly touch the ground
Walking on the moon
My feet don't hardly make no sound
Walking on, walking on the moon
Some may say
I'm wishing my days away
No way
And if it's the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow's another day
You stay
I may as well play
Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my leg don't break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could be together
Walking on, walking on the moon
Some may say
I'm wishing my days away
No way
And if it's the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow's another day
You stay
I may as well play
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
Keep it up, keep it up
The lyrics to The Police's "Walking on the Moon" describe an elevated state of being both metaphorically and physically. The song begins by acknowledging the giant steps taken while walking on the moon, a reference to the Apollo moon landing in 1969. The line "I hope my leg don't break" could be interpreted as a fear of losing this elevated state or a reminder of the fragility of life.
The chorus repeats the idea of walking on the moon as a metaphor for an ideal state of being where one could walk forever and live together. The sense of weightlessness is further emphasized by the imagery of feet hardly touching the ground and making no sound. However, the verse ends with the recognition that some may see this desire to stay in this idealized state as a waste of time.
The repeated refrain of "keep it up" could be interpreted as an encouragement to maintain this elevated state or a plea to continue striving towards a better state of being.
Line by Line Meaning
Giant steps are what you take
You move with a commanding stride
Walking on the moon
You are experiencing the feeling of lightness and floating like an astronaut walking on the moon
I hope my leg don't break
You are aware of the risk of injury from this unique experience
Walking on the moon
You are still experiencing the feeling of lightness and floating like an astronaut walking on the moon
We could walk forever
You feel free from the constraints of gravity and could keep walking forever in this weightless state
Walking on the moon
You are still experiencing the feeling of lightness and floating like an astronaut walking on the moon
We could live together
You feel so free and weightless that you could imagine living together with someone else in this weightless environment
Walking on, walking on the moon
You continue to experience the joy and incredible feeling of moving in a weightless state like an astronaut walking on the moon
Walking back from your house
You are now on Earth and reminiscing about a previous experience walking on the moon
Walking on the moon
You still cannot forget the feeling of lightness and floating that you experienced on the moon
Walking back from your house
You are still thinking back to that previous experience while walking on Earth
Walking on the moon
You would give anything to be able to experience that feeling of weightlessness again
Feet they hardly touch the ground
Your feet feel like they are barely making contact with the ground because the memory of the weightless feeling still lingers
Walking on the moon
You are still reminiscing about that incredible experience of walking on the moon
My feet don't hardly make no sound
Your steps are almost soundless, like they were on the moon's surface
Walking on, walking on the moon
You are still thinking about the extraordinary feeling of lightness and floating like an astronaut on the moon
Some may say
People may think that you are wasting your life by always thinking about that one experience
I'm wishing my days away
You long for the feeling of weightlessness and can't stop thinking about it
No way
You reject the idea that you are wasting your life by not forgetting about that experience
And if it's the price I pay
Even if people think you're wasting your life on this memory, it's a price you're willing to pay to keep that feeling of lightness alive
Some say
People have differing views on what is important in life
Tomorrow's another day
You feel positive about tomorrow bringing new experiences and opportunities to feel that weightless feeling again
You stay
Others may stay where they are, but you want to move and experience the world
I may as well play
You might as well enjoy life while you can
Keep it up, keep it up
You encourage yourself to keep striving for more experiences
Keep it up, keep it up
You remind yourself to never give up chasing your dreams
Keep it up, keep it up
You tell yourself to keep going, keep pursuing what you want in life
Keep it up, keep it up
You keep motivating yourself to keep moving forward and live life to the fullest
Keep it up, keep it up
You refuse to give up and will keep fighting for what you want in life
Keep it up, keep it up
You refuse to let others drag you down and will always strive to move forward
Keep it up, keep it up
You reassure yourself that you can do this, and you will keep pushing forward
Keep it up, keep it up
You know that you will face obstacles, but you must keep pushing forward to reach your goals
Keep it up, keep it up
You remind yourself to stay focused on what you want and keep working hard to achieve it
Keep it up, keep it up
You will never stop striving for greatness and will keep moving forward no matter what
Keep it up, keep it up
You encourage yourself to keep the positive momentum going and never give up on your dreams
Keep it up, keep it up
You know that life will have its ups and downs, but you must keep moving forward with determination
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gordon Sumner
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@riccardotralli76
Me: What instrument do you play?
Sting: Bass and vocals
Andy: Guitar
Stewart: The Saturn V
@joehynes5452
🤣🤣
@steph8227
Heavy and powerful instrument... Start engine Stewart!
@NormAppleton
Technically the F1 engine of the Saturn V, but I digress....
@MsBellatrixa
It'd be a great pick up line 😂😂
@stiltomonkey6137
The ears
@edmaster6902
These guys were on a whole different level, rock style influenced by punk, reggae and jazz. Absolutely brilliant!
@einarabelc5
One was a jazz/60s rock guitarist and the other two were prog with Egyptian influences and jazz
@jamesbong4928
Yeah I was into these guys, and as a kid, on a couple of occasions, I swore I saw that drummer maestro on the streets.
But I could've been right innit
@russellhamer8690
@@jamesbong4928 Copeland n Sting famously reside in N.Y with Sting openly admitting he would Walk the streets at night looking for coke dealers because he thought it made Him play better... I'm glad he is rid of those Demons these days....