Latest revision as of 01:25, 1 April 2024

"Walking on the Moon"
Single cover art for Walking on the Moon (song)
Recorded by The Police
Released:	1979-11-23
Recorded:	summer of 1979
Length:	5:02
Album:	Reggatta de Blanc
Label(s):	A&M
Writer(s):	Sting
Producer(s):	Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers, Nigel Gray
Studio(s):	Surrey Sound Studios
Released as single?	Yes

About the song

Sting wrote the song when he was lying drunk in a hotel room in Munich, Germany. In "The Independent" from September 16, 1993 he mentions that he had done a TV show with The Police, so it was probably the night after 1979-05-29. He had the bass line in mind and started walking around the room, which led to the song's "original" title "Walking Round The Room."

Stewart Copeland mentioned that this song started as a rocker. The famous guitar chord was Andy's contribution. According to engineer Chris Gray they had a Scamp rack [S24 ADT] at Surrey Sound Studios: "It’s modules of processors. You get different ones that fit into the racks (echoes and flangers) and there was one in particular that was a sort of phaser/chorus/flanger/close echo/double-tracking module. When those guitar chords come in on Walking On The Moon, that is purely the sound of that Scamp rack. They used that one a lot."

There are several versions that are way longer than the LP track. A 7:15 minute version is basically the same as the one on the LP, but it offers another chorus and different improvised vocal chants in the coda. This longer mix doesn't yet feature the Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer that produces the bubbling sounds. You can hear much clearer that the famous bass notes are also played by a piano.

If you think 7:15 minutes are quite long: there's also another extended version that lasts 8:51 minutes ! This version features a 2 minute Andy Summers guitar solo over a late bridge and Sting's and Stewart's vocal variations.

Personnel

Sting - Lead vocals, fretless bass guitar, guitar
Andy Summers - Lead guitar
Stewart Copeland - Drums

Ads

This ad was printed in Record Mirror and NME (November 24, 1979):

Release History

Albums

"Walking on the Moon" appears on the following album releases:

Album title	Release date	Release country
Reggatta de Blanc	1979-10-02	United Kingdom
Every Breath You Take: The Singles	1986	United Kingdom
Greatest Hits	1992-10-02	United Kingdom
Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings	1993-09-30	United Kingdom
The Police Live!	1995-06-13	United Kingdom
Every Breath You Take: The Classics	1995-09-12	United States
The Police	2007-06-11	United States

Singles

"Walking on the Moon" was released both as a 7" single and a 12" single and also as part of the Six Pack.

7" Singles

Cover art	Catalog no.	A-side song/B-side song	Release date	Release country
	AMS 7494	"Walking on the Moon"/"Visions of the Night"	1979-11-23	United Kingdom
	A&M P66001C	"Walking on the Moon"/"Visions of the Night"	1980-05-01	United Kingdom

12" Singles

Cover art	Catalog no.	A-side song(s)/B-side song(s)	Release date	Release country
	AMSP 7494	"Walking on the Moon"/"Visions of the Night"	1979-11-23	United Kingdom
	SAMP 5	"The Bed's Too Big Without You"/"So Lonely"/"Can't Stand Losing You"/"Roxanne"/"Message In A Bottle"/"Walking On The Moon"	1980-MM-DD	UK

Video

"Walking on the Moon" appears on the following video releases:

Video title	Release date	Release country
Around the World	1983-02-01	United Kingdom
Every Breath You Take: The Videos	1986-11-01	United Kingdom
Greatest Hits (long video)	1992-09-01	United Kingdom
Outlandos to Synchronicities: A History of The Police Live!	1995-05-01	United Kingdom
Live Ghost In The Machine	2001-10-01	Japan
Every Breath You Take: The DVD	2003-04-07	United Kingdom
Synchronicity Concert (DVD)	2005-09-01	United Kingdom

Lyrics

Lyrics are property and copyright of their owners, and provided here for educational purposes only.

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my legs 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 legs 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

Quotations and trivia

Sting on how the song was first written:

"I was drunk in a hotel room in Munich, slumped on the bed with the whirling pit when this riff came into my head. I got up and starting walking round the room singing: 'Walking round the room, walking round the room'. That was all. In the cool light of morning I remembered what had happened and I wrote the riff down. But 'Walking Round The Room' was a stupid title so I thought of something even more stupid which was 'Walking on the Moon."

Nigel Gray on the sound of the song:

"Walking on the Moon' has two guitar parts, but there are long gaps in it where you'd expect an extra guitar to fill in -- and there's nothing, just the groove. They get the backing track, add the vocals and one or two overdubs, then have the faith to leave it. If anyone else had recorded 'Walking on the Moon' it wouldn't have been a hit -- it's what The Police do to it that makes it special."

(both quotes from L'Historia Bandido)

Alternative and cover versions

The Police

the 7" version is about a minute shorter than the LP version
the 12" version is about 10 seconds shorter than the LP version
several work in progress versions are way longer than the LP version

Cover versions

Cover versions of Walking On The Moon appear on the following album releases:

Cover art	Artist	Album title	Release date	Release country
	Sly & Robbie feat. Ambilique	Reggatta Mondatta	1997-MM-DD	The Netherlands
	The Pale	Policia! A Tribute To The Police	2005-MM-DD	USA

The Frederic Alarie Trio recorded a jazz version of "Walking On The Moon" on the album Live A Vienne.[1][2][3]

Remixes

"Walking on the Moon (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Dub)"
"Walking on the Moon (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Moon Mix)"
"Walking on the Moon (Roger Sanchez EVA Mix)"

These three appear on:

"Roxanne '97" - 12" single

A&M

1997-12-01

United Kingdom

"Walking on the Moon (Roger Sanchez EVA Edit)"

Song appears on:

"Roxanne '97" - 7" single

A&M

1997-12-01

United Kingdom

and furthermore:

Walking On The Moon (Roger Sanchez EVA Instrumental) 6:00
Walking On The Moon (Roger Sanchez EVA Dub And Bass) 6:50

There are also four unreleased remixes:

Walking On The Moon (Roger Sanchez EVA Accapella)
Walking On The Moon (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Moon Instrumental)
Walking On The Moon (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Moon Accapella)
Walking On The Moon (Roger Sanchez Free Fall In Outer Space)

References

sources: various, Roland GR500 information from 1982-09 Guitar Player; NME - November 17, 1979 (release date); The Independent - 9 / 93; L'Historia Bandido; Craig Betts; Chris Gray in Walking On The Moon: The Untold Story Of The Police And The Rise Of New Wave Rock

Difference between revisions of "Walking On The Moon (song)"

Latest revision as of 01:25, 1 April 2024

Contents

About the song

Personnel

Ads

Release History

Albums

Singles

7" Singles

12" Singles

Video

Lyrics

Quotations and trivia

Alternative and cover versions

The Police

Cover versions

Remixes

See also

References

Navigation menu

Views

Personal tools

Navigation

links

Search

Tools

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 |- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
 | <b>Released:</b>
-| [[1979]]
+| [[1979-11-23]]
 |- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
 | <b>Recorded:</b>
-| [[1979]]
+| summer of [[1979]]
 |- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
 | <b>Length:</b>
@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 |- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
 | <b>Writer(s):</b>
-| [[Sting]]
+| [[Sting (person) | Sting]]
 |- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
 | <b>Producer(s):</b>
-| [[Stewart Copeland]], [[Sting]], [[Andy Summers]], [[Nigel Gray]]
+| [[Stewart Copeland]], [[Sting (person) | Sting]], [[Andy Summers]], [[Nigel Gray]]
 |- style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"
 | <b>Studio(s):</b>
@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 |}
-''"Walking on the Moon"'' is a song written by [[Sting]] and recorded by [[The Police]] in [[1979]].
+=About the song=
+[[Sting]] wrote the song when he was lying drunk in a hotel room in Munich, Germany. In "The Independent" from September 16, [[1993]] he mentions that he had done a TV show with [[The Police]], so it was probably the night after [[1979-05-29]]. He had the bass line in mind and started walking around the room, which led to the song's "original" title "Walking Round The Room."
-=About the song=
+[[Stewart Copeland]] mentioned that this song started as a rocker. The famous guitar chord was Andy's contribution. According to engineer Chris Gray they had a Scamp rack [S24 ADT] at [[Surrey Sound Studios]]: "It’s modules of processors. You get different ones that fit into the racks (echoes and flangers) and there was one in particular that was a sort of phaser/chorus/flanger/close echo/double-tracking module. When those guitar chords come in on Walking On The Moon, that is purely the sound of that Scamp rack. They used that one a lot."
-''This section needs more information.''
+There are several versions that are way longer than the LP track. A 7:15 minute version is basically the same as the one on the LP, but it offers another chorus and different improvised vocal chants in the coda. This longer mix doesn't yet feature the Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer that produces the bubbling sounds. You can hear much clearer that the famous bass notes are also played by a piano.
+If you think 7:15 minutes are quite long: there's also another extended version that lasts 8:51 minutes ! This version features a 2 minute [[Andy Summers]] guitar solo over a late bridge and [[Sting]]'s and Stewart's vocal variations.
 =Personnel=
-* [[Sting]] - Lead vocals, fretless bass guitar, guitar
+* [[Sting (person) | Sting]] - Lead vocals, fretless bass guitar, guitar
 * [[Andy Summers]] - Lead guitar
-* [[Stewart Copeland]] - Drums<ref>''Wikipedia.'' Feb 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Feb 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_on_the_Moon></ref>
+* [[Stewart Copeland]] - Drums
+=Ads=
+This ad was printed in Record Mirror and NME (November 24, [[1979]]):[[Image:1979_11_24_tourad.jpg|80px]]
 =Release History=
 ==Albums==
-''"Walking on the Moon"'' appears on the following album releases<ref>''Wikipedia.'' Feb 2008. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 15 Feb 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggatta_de_Blanc></ref>:
+''"[[Walking on the Moon]]"'' appears on the following album releases:
 {| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" border="1" style="background-color: #F0F0F0;  border-spacing: 2; padding:5px;"
@@ Line 91: / Line 98: @@
 ==Singles==
-"Walking on the Moon" was released both as a 7" single and a 12" single and also as part of the [[Six Pack]].<ref>''ThePolice.com.'' UltraStar Entertainment LLC. 15 Feb 2008. <http://www.thepolice.com/discog/?v=si&a=2&id=145></ref>, <ref>''ThePolice.com.'' UltraStar Entertainment LLC. 15 Feb 2008. <http://www.thepolice.com/discog/?v=si&a=2&id=146></ref>, <ref>''ThePolice.com.'' UltraStar Entertainment LLC. 15 Feb 2008. <http://www.thepolice.com/discog/?v=si&a=2&id=147></ref>
+"[[Walking on the Moon]]" was released both as a 7" single and a 12" single and also as part of the [[Six Pack]].
 ===7" Singles===
@@ Line 104: / Line 111: @@
 | AMS 7494
 | "[[Walking on the Moon]]"/"[[Visions of the Night]]"
-| [[1979-12-01]]
+| [[1979-11-23]]
 | United Kingdom
 |- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
@@ Line 123: / Line 130: @@
 |- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
 | [[Image:walkingonthemoon.jpg|40px]]
-| AMS 7494
+| AMSP 7494
 | "[[Walking on the Moon]]"/"[[Visions of the Night]]"
-| [[1979-12-01]]
+| [[1979-11-23]]
 | United Kingdom
+|- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
+| [[Image:radiosample.jpg|40px]]
+| SAMP 5
+| "[[The Bed's Too Big Without You]]"/"[[So Lonely]]"/"[[Can't Stand Losing You]]"/"[[Roxanne]]"/"[[Message In A Bottle]]"/"[[Walking On The Moon]]"
+| [[1980-MM-DD]]
+| UK
 |}
 ==Video==
-''"Walking on the Moon"'' appears on the following video releases:
+''"[[Walking on the Moon]]"'' appears on the following video releases:
 {| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" border="1" style="background-color: #F0F0F0;  border-spacing: 2; padding:5px;"
 ! Cover art
@@ Line 137: / Line 150: @@
 ! Release country
 |- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
-| [[Image:stub.gif|40px]]
+| [[Image:police-aroundtheworld.jpg|40px]]
 | [[Around the World]]
 | [[1983-02-01]]
@@ Line 152: / Line 165: @@
 | United Kingdom
 |- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
-| [[Image:stub.gif|40px]]
+| [[Image:police-outlandostosynchronicities.jpg|40px]]
 | [[Outlandos to Synchronicities: A History of The Police Live!]]
 | [[1995-05-01]]
 | United Kingdom
 |- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
-| [[Image:stub.gif|40px]]
+| [[Image:Live_Ghost_In_The_Machine_DVD.jpg|40px]]
 | [[Live Ghost In The Machine]]
 | [[2001-10-01]]
@@ Line 167: / Line 180: @@
 | United Kingdom
 |- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
-| [[Image:stub.gif|40px]]
+| [[Image:Police-syncronicityconcertdvd.jpg|40px]]
 | [[Synchronicity Concert]] (DVD)
 | [[2005-09-01]]
@@ Line 174: / Line 187: @@
 =Lyrics=
+'''Lyrics are property and copyright of their owners, and provided here for educational purposes only.'''
 <pre>
 Giant steps are what you take
@@ Line 221: / Line 236: @@
 Keep it up, keep it up
-</pre><ref>''LyricWiki.org.'' Feb 2008. Motive Force LLC. 15 Feb 2008 <http://lyricwiki.org/The_Police:Walking_On_The_Moon></ref>
+</pre>
 =Quotations and trivia=
-''This section needs more information.''
+* [[Sting]] on how the song was first written:
+<blockquote>
+"I was drunk in a hotel room in Munich, slumped on the bed with the whirling pit when this riff came into my head. I got up and starting walking round the room singing: 'Walking round the room, walking round the room'. That was all. In the cool light of morning I remembered what had happened and I wrote the riff down. But 'Walking Round The Room' was a stupid title so I thought of something even more stupid which was '[[Walking on the Moon]]."
+</blockquote>
+*[[Nigel Gray]] on the sound of the song:
+<blockquote>
+"[[Walking on the Moon]]' has two guitar parts, but there are long gaps in it where you'd expect an extra guitar to fill in -- and there's nothing, just the groove. They get the backing track, add the vocals and one or two overdubs, then have the faith to leave it. If anyone else had recorded '[[Walking on the Moon]]' it wouldn't have been a hit -- it's what [[The Police]] do to it that makes it special."
+</blockquote>
+(both quotes from [[L'Historia Bandido]])
 =Alternative and cover versions=
-''This section needs more information.''
+==The Police==
+* the 7" version is about a minute shorter than the LP version
+* the 12" version is about 10 seconds shorter than the LP version
+* several work in progress versions are way longer than the LP version
+==Cover versions==
+Cover versions of [[Walking On The Moon]] appear on the following album releases:
+{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" border="1" style="background-color: #F0F0F0;  border-spacing: 2; padding:5px;"
+! Cover art
+! Artist
+! Album title
+! Release date
+! Release country
+|- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
+| [[Image:Reggatta_Mondatta.jpg|40px]]
+| Sly & Robbie feat. Ambilique
+| [[Reggatta Mondatta]]
+| [[1997-MM-DD]]
+| The Netherlands
+|- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
+| [[Image:Policia_cover.jpg|40px]]
+| The Pale
+| [[Policia! A Tribute To The Police]]
+| [[2005-MM-DD]]
+| USA
+|}
+* The Frederic Alarie Trio recorded a jazz version of "Walking On The Moon" on the album ''Live A Vienne.''[http://www.stewartcopeland.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=11144][http://www.fidelioaudio.com/prod/production_show.php?id=18][http://www.elusivedisc.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FACD002]
+==Remixes==
+* "[[Walking on the Moon]] (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Dub)"
+* "[[Walking on the Moon]] (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Moon Mix)"
+* "[[Walking on the Moon]] (Roger Sanchez EVA Mix)"
+: These three appear on:
+:{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" border="1" style="background-color: #F0F0F0;  border-spacing: 2; padding:5px;"
+|- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
+| [[Image:roxanne97.jpg|40px]]
+| "[[Roxanne]] '97" - 12" single
+| [[A&M]]
+| [[1997-12-01]]
+| United Kingdom
+|}
+* "[[Walking on the Moon]] (Roger Sanchez EVA Edit)"
+: Song appears on:
+:{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="10" border="1" style="background-color: #F0F0F0;  border-spacing: 2; padding:5px;"
+|- style="background-color: #FFFFFF;"
+| [[Image:roxanne97.jpg|40px]]
+| "[[Roxanne]] '97" - 7" single
+| A&M
+| [[1997-12-01]]
+| United Kingdom
+|}
+and furthermore:
+* [[Walking On The Moon]] (Roger Sanchez EVA Instrumental) 6:00
+* [[Walking On The Moon]] (Roger Sanchez EVA Dub And Bass) 6:50
+There are also four unreleased remixes:
+* [[Walking On The Moon]] (Roger Sanchez EVA Accapella)
+* [[Walking On The Moon]] (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Moon Instrumental)
+* [[Walking On The Moon]] (Roger Sanchez Darkside Of The Moon Accapella)
+* [[Walking On The Moon]] (Roger Sanchez Free Fall In Outer Space)
 =See also=
 * [[Reggatta de Blanc]]
 * [[Walking on the Moon (video)]]
-=External links=
-''This section needs more information.''
 =References=
-<references />
+sources: various, Roland GR500 information from [[1982-09 Guitar Player]]; NME - November 17, [[1979]] (release date); The Independent - 9 / 93; [[L'Historia Bandido]]; Craig Betts; Chris Gray in [[Walking On The Moon: The Untold Story Of The Police And The Rise Of New Wave Rock]]
 [[Category:Songs (The Police)]][[Category:Songs (Sting)]]