Friday, July 31, 2009
Every Breath You Take by The Police
When Diana and I were trying to figure out what song to do for our first dance at our wedding reception I rejected a lot of songs that were not intended as love songs. One song that I rejected was “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. I mean it’s a song about a stalker, how could that possibly be appropriate for a wedding reception?
Sting wrote "Every Breath You Take" in the middle of the night thinking about the idea that the government was watching the people. In an interview he said, “"I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have misinterpreted it as being a gentle, little love song.” Sting discounted the song saying that the lyrics were pulled from “the rock & roll cliché handbook” and he has said that the tender lyrics are meant to be bitter. Once upon a time I would go with what Sting said “Every Breath You Take” as speaking to the meaning of the song, but after revisiting this song, I’m going to have to disagree Sting’s intent.
If Sting intended “Every Breath You Take” to be a bitter, creepy and derivative pop song, I would argue that he failed. Instead, he created one of the most heartfelt and hypnotic love songs in popular music. As much as I remind myself of Sting’s intent when I listen to this songs I can’t help but get a feeling of love and devotion.
This song talks about “watching you” through not only the good things but through the bad, “every bond you break . . . every smile you fake.” The idea of someone always watching you is creepy, but it comes across in a more comforting way.
When I take Buffy, my puppy, to the park she will run around but checks back all the time to make sure I am there, to be comforted by the fact that I’m watching. When we are young knowing that our parents our watching means that we know that they are there for us. When we get older, this physical watching presence matures into an emotional security we hold in our heart that someone loves us and is thinking about us.
It is important to consider the artist intention. However a song has a life of its own and a meaning that transcends what the artists tries to express. It is our personal meaning in music that we hold in our hearts and the validity of this feeling has nothing to do with the artist and everything to do with us.
If I've misinterpretation "Every Breath You Take," than I'd rather be wrong then right.
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I tend to agree with your take on it, though there is one memorable time I've seen this song used as per Sting's stated intent. In the 3-story horror Stephen King anthology Cat's Eye, there is a story staring James Woods as a smoker trying to quit. He hires a company that promises he will quit smoking or die, literally. They have phases where every time he smokes they do something (throw his wife in a room with an electrified floor, chop off his wife's finger, mess with his kid) and in one scene in a moment of weakness you see him sneak off in a supposedly empty part of his house and you hear that song play. This is when you realize someone IS always watching him.
ReplyDeleteok Cat's Eye is at the top of my Netflix cue. Wow, that film sounds awesome.
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