Every Breath You Take (song)
| "Every Breath You Take" | |
|---|---|
| Recorded by The Police | |
| Released: | 1983-05-20 (UK)
1983-06-25 (Japan) |
| Recorded: | 1982/1983 |
| Length: | 4:13 |
| Album(s): | Synchronicity |
| Label(s): | A&M |
| Writer(s): | Sting |
| Producer(s): | Hugh Padgham & The Police |
| Studio(s): | AIR Studios, Montserrat |
| Released as single? | YES |
"Every Breath You Take" is a song written by Sting and recorded by The Police in 1983/1984..
Contents
About the song
Writing
Sting wrote the song at Ian Fleming's "Goldeneye" residence on Jamaica around May / June 1982.
Utopia demo
On 1982-10-08 he recorded a demo at Utopia Studios in London, England, UK, lasting 4:01 minutes.
Instead of the guitar arpeggio that Andy Summers later thought of there was a catchy hammond-like keyboard pattern played on an Oberheim OB X, performed to a rather primitive drum machine track from the Oberheim.
The vocals were already in place. The bridge had two beats with Sting playing a D7 instead of the later Cadd9 / Dadd9 chords.
Montserrat recording
For the recording of Synchronicity Hugh Padgham used the same methods as on Ghost In The Machine. Stewart Copeland's drums were placed in the dining area of AIR Studios, while Andy Summers played his guitar in the main studio recording room and Sting's bass was plugged into the recording console in the control room.
Recording Every Breath You Take took about a week because of the simplicity of the song. On Montserrat it was agreed that the demo version's keyboards would go; they tried the song as a reggae, as a more "rock" track and whatnot, before Andy Summers came up with THAT guitar part.
Hugh Padgham used a SM57 for the snare, Sennheiser 421s for the toms, Coles 4038 ribbon mics for the overheads and Neumann 87s as room mics (placed about 10-15 feet away).
Originally the band intended to record the backing track the normal way with a band performance first - and Stewart's drums in one take. Hugh Padgham recalls that Stewart messed up lots of takes and didn't play as simple as Sting intended the drum part to be.
So all of the percussive elements were recorded separately. The bass drum is an Oberheim DMX bass drum. Stewart had a snare (tightened as much as it could be) at his left hand and a huge TAMA tom-tom at his right hand - playing those while standing. He overdubbed snare beats so that every hit felt right. He later added the hi-hat with a 300-millisecond delay, gong and cymbal played with mallets, overdubbed toms also played with mallets.
Sting alternated between a DI'd 1962 Fender Jazz Bass and a Steinberger L2 bass, also using "Brian" - the Dutch upright electric double bass - doubling the root notes.
Andy Summers used several guitars with different setups. For his 1961 Fender Telecaster, Stratocaster and Gibson ES-335 lefthand he used a Roland JCI20 Jazz Chorus amp - with the chorus always switched on. The amp's 12-inch speakers were miked with a Sennheiser 421 each. Andy also used the Roland guitar synths to produce keyboard-like sounds. The guitar signal would be split between the yellow and blue synths. Each one would go through 100 Watt Marshall amps with 4x12 cabinets.
Sting played the grand piano parts in the middle and second verse. The band also used some Prophet and Oberheim synthesizer sounds to record the song.
Sting sang his vocals in the control room with an AKG 414 compressed through a UREI 1176.
Recording was done with the Neve 8078 console on 24 analogue tracks.
The song was mixed at Le Studio in mid-January 1983 on an SSL console. Stewart and Sting still fought over additions / deletions of single tracks. An alternate 4:03 minute mix of the well known song was done by Hugh Padgham on 1983-01-10 - this featured variations like a count-in by Sting and louder piano at the end. The unedited (and unreleased) length of the official studio LP take would last 5:42 minutes - same structure, but the coda goes on and on !
Outtake
On 1982-12-06 The Police recorded a rough early version of 5:17 minutes that can be found on the Synchronicity box set (released on 2024-07-26).
Alternate Mix
In 1983-01-10 Hugh Padgham mixed an alternate version of this song minutes that lasts 4:03 minutes and can also be found on the Synchronicity box set (released on 2024-07-26).
It features a short count-in by Sting. There are more synths in the first verse. Sting's "baby, baby, pleeeease" lyrics can be heard much longer. Piano parts are mixed differently - this version features an unheard piano part over the coda. The coda fades out earlier than the one from the LP version.
LP version
The LP version we all know lasts 4:13 minutes. Its unedited version (with an almost never-ending coda) would run 5:42 minutes.
Instrumental version
Every Breath You Take (backing track) was already released as a Japanese b-side in 1983. It was again released on a Record Store Day 7" on 2023-04-22. It can now also be found on CD in the Synchronicity box set that was released on 2024-07-26.
Personnel
Release History
Albums
Every Breath You Take appears on the following album releases:
| Cover art | Album title | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Synchronicity | 1983-06-01 | USA |
|
Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings | 1993-MM-DD | UK |
Singles
CD Singles
| Cover art | Catalog no. | Songs | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Catalog no. | "Song"(s) | YYYY-MM-DD | Country |
7" Singles
| Cover art | Catalog no. | A-side song/B-side song | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
AM 117 | "Every Breath You Take"/"Murder By Numbers" | 1983-05-20 | UK |
|
AMX 117 | "Every Breath You Take"/"Murder By Numbers" | 1983-05-27 | UK |
|
AM 117 + AM*01 | "Every Breath You Take"/"Murder By Numbers"/"Man In A Suitcase (live)"/"Truth Hits Everybody (remix)" | 1983-06-03 | UK |
|
487 142-2 | Every Breath You Take / Murder By Numbers / Every Bomb You Make / Every Breath You Take (instrumental) | 2023-04-22 | worldwide |
12" Singles
| Cover art | Catalog no. | A-side song(s)/B-side song(s) | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Catalog no. | "A-side song"/"B-side song" (add more songs as necessary) | YYYY-MM-DD | Country |
Video
"Every Breath You Take" appears on the following video and dvd releases:
| Cover art | Video title | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Every Breath You Take: The Videos | 1986-MM-DD | Country |
|
Every Breath You Take: The DVD | 2003-04-07 | Country |
Awards, nominations, and certifications
Awards
This section needs more information.
| Year | Winner | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| YYYY | WINNER (album, song, producer, etc.) | AWARD (Grammy, People's Choice, etc.) | CATEGORY |
Nominations
This section needs more information.
| Year | Nominee | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| YYYY | NOMINEE (album, song, producer, etc.) | AWARD (Grammy, People's Choice, etc.) | CATEGORY |
Certifications
This section needs more information.
| Country | Certifier | Classification | Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
| COUNTRY | CERTIFIER (RIAA, IFPI...) | CLASSIFICATION (Album, singles, foreign artist...) | CERTIFICATION (Gold, Platinum, Diamond...) |
Lyrics
Lyrics are property and copyright of their owners, and provided here for educational purposes only.
Every breath you take Every move you make Every bond you break Every step you take Ill be watching you Every single day Every word you say Every game you play Every night you stay Ill be watching you Oh, cant you see You belong to me How my poor heart aches With every step you take Every move you make Every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake Ill be watching you Since youve gone I been lost without a trace I dream at night I can only see your face I look around but its you I cant replace I feel so cold and I long for your embrace I keep crying baby, baby, please... Oh, cant you see You belong to me How my poor heart aches With every breath you take Every move you make Every vow you break Every smile you fake Every claim you stake Ill be watching you Every move you make Every step you take Ill be watching you Ill be watching you Ill be watching you Ill be watching you Ill be watching you...
Quotations and trivia
According to a source close to Paul Simon his song Slip Slidin' Away was an influence for Sting, when he wrote Every Breath You Take (as Sting once mentioned it to Paul)....
A snare beat sample from this track would later be used by producer Bryan Loren for We'll Be Together.
Ads
UK ads:
Alternative and cover versions
Alternative versions
| Cover art | Catalog no. | A-side song/B-side song | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
AMP-782 | "Every Breath You Take (backing track)"/"Roxanne (backing track)" | 1983-MM-DD | Japan |
- Sting's original demo was recorded at Utopia Studios in London - his vocals were accompanied by a Hammond organ.
- In an early mix from AIR Studios Sting counts the song in. The structure and instrumentation sound like the LP version, however during the shorter fade-out there's an additional piano part and the additional guitars that kick in at the LP version's 3:25 mark are not there yet
- Sting has been known to sing 'every cake you bake' and various other goofy lines in the last chorus.
Cover versions
Cover versions of Every Breath You Take appear on the following album releases:
| Cover art | Artist | Album title | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40px | Tammy Wynette & Sting | Without Walls | 1994-10-18 | UK |
|
Betty Wright | Reggatta Mondatta | 1997-MM-DD | The Netherlands |
|
Copeland | Policia! A Tribute To The Police | 2005-MM-DD | USA |
| 40px | Dolly Parton & Sting | Rockstar | 2023-11-27 | USA |
- The Jo Jo Runners produced an early mash-up in 1985: Every Doot You Take is a mix of Freur's "Doot Doot" and Every Breath You Take - and probably some more songs...
- This song was performed live on American Idol season 7 (original air date March 31, 2008) by contestant Brooke White. She sang with only her playing along on piano.
- This song was also sampled by Puff Daddy "Sean Combs" for his song, I'll be missing you, a tribute song to his rapper friend The Notorious B.I.G. who was murdered back in the 90s.
- The song was also covered in 2004 by UB40 for the movie "50 First Dates" Soundtrack.
See also
This section needs more information.
External links
References
- Police, The. Synchronicity. (1983) [Audio recording], A&M Records.
- 1988-02 Keyboard
- Sound on Sound - March 2004 (demo and recording info)
- Jeff Seitz
- Jay Matsueda (Paul Simon trivia)
- Fabio Trentini (demo info after listening to Pete Smith's tapes)
