O My God
| "O My God" | |
|---|---|
| Recorded by The Police | |
| Released: | 1983-06-01 |
| Recorded: | December 1982 |
| Length: | 4:00 |
| Album(s): | Synchronicity |
| Label(s): | A&M |
| Writer(s): | Sting |
| Producer(s): | The Police, Hugh Padgham |
| Studio(s): | AIR Studios |
| Released as single? | B-SIDE (in Brazil) |
"O My God" is a song written by Sting and recorded by The Police in 1982 / 1983.
Contents
About the song
Writing
Sting wrote the song Oh My God for Last Exit. Some of the lyrics are the same, but The Police's song doesn't bear many similarities with the Last Exit version.
Utopia demo
On 1982-10-08 he recorded a demo at Utopia Studios in London, England, UK.
The 4:38 minute demo features the old Last Exit lyrics sung to a different melody and the rhythmic pattern of Walking In Your Footsteps, with added saxophones.
Outtake
On 1982-12-06 The Police recorded an early funky version of this song that closely followed the demo - it's 5:14 minutes long and also features a saxophone part.
OBX version
On 1982-12-10 The Police recorded the OBX version of this song. The 4:25 minute track still follows the demo melody but adds the OBX sounds that were later used for Walking In Your Footsteps. No saxophones in this version.
Alternate Mix
An alternate version of the song we all know was mixed by Hugh Padgham at AIR Studios on 1983-01-10. It's almost identical to the final song, with a few exceptions: the 3:44 minute track features a few more bars in the song's fade-in. The guitar synth in the instrumental part before Sting starts to sing is absent - this early version features a guitar similar to Walking On The Moon there (you only hear this kind of guitar in the LP version at around 1:32 minutes), which still plays throughout the 1st verse. The rest of this early mix is quite similar to the LP version until the end, where the song is faded out rather early. The biggest difference - there are no saxophones!
LP version
The official version of this song lasts 4:00 minutes. About the only ideas that made it from the demo to the final track were the lyrics and the use of saxophones.
Personnel
- Sting - vocals, bass, saxophone
- Andy Summers - guitar
- Stewart Copeland - drums
Release History
Albums
O My God appears on the following album releases:
| Cover art | Album title | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Synchronicity | 1983-06-01 | Country |
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 47072 | "King Of Pain"/"O My God" | 1983-MM-DD | Brazil |
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
"SONG TITLE" appears on the following video and dvd releases:
| Cover art | Video title | Release date | Release country |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Video or dvd title | YYYY-MM-DD | 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.
Everyone I know is lonely And God is so far away And my heart belongs to no one So now sometimes I pray Please take the space between us And fill it up some way Take the space between us and fill it up some way O my God you take the biscuit Treating me this way Expecting me to treat you well No matter what you say How can I turn the other cheek It's black and bruised and torn I've been waiting since the day that I was born Take the space between us and fill it up some way Take the space between us and fill it up some way The fat man in his garden The thin man at his gate My God you must be sleeping Wake up, it's much too late Take the space between us and fill it up some way Take the space between us and fill it up some way Do I have to tell the story of a thousand rainy days Since we first met It's a big enough umbrella But it's always me that ends up getting wet
Quotations and trivia
Sting reuses some lyrics from Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic at the end of the song.
Alternative and cover versions
- Sting had already used parts of the lyrics in Last Exit's Oh My God
- they were first re-used in Three O'Clock Shit in 1977
See also
External links
This section needs more information.
References
- Police, The. Synchronicity. (1983) [Audio recording], A&M Records.
- Fabio Trentini (demo info after listening to Pete Smith's tapes)
