Bring On the POLL - ILM Artist Poll #116 - THE POLICE - (Results Thread)

kind of another one of their ska songs tbh (i do love it though)

Dr. C.: Yeah it sounds so wrong and feels so right. That Stewart was able to play it so precisely, so often, indicates that it was completely deliberate and intentionally placed exactly there.

what instrument is that plucky thing that arrives halfway through?

xp yeah the snare hits directly on the 4 of the previous measure before the chorus

NickB, I used to think it was a nylon-string classical guitar, very processed. Nowadays I suspect it was a sample of classical guitar played on an emU or similar keyboard.

ah okay! always made me think of a balalaika or something. or that one that's made out of half an armadillo or whatever it is

Just recently stumbled on Andy Summer's recent string of solo guitar albums and they are really beautiful.

I often lose the “one” in this song if I’m not paying attention

xp wait what? tell me more!

Top 10

https://i.imgur.com/MI02gJ7.jpg

10. Can’t Stand Losing You
From: Outlandos d'Amour
Single Released: August 14, 1978
601 Points, 16 Votes

"Can't Stand Losing You" features lyrics which, according to Sting, is "about a teenage suicide, which is always a bit of a joke." Sting also claimed that the lyrics took him only five minutes to write.

The original single was banned by the BBC because of the controversial cover (an alternative cover was released in some places). As Sting described: "The reason they (the BBC) had a problem with "Can't Stand Losing You" was because the photo on the cover of the single had Stewart standing on a block of ice with a noose around his neck, waiting for the ice to melt." Despite this, or perhaps because of the extra attention from the controversy, it became the group's first single to break the charts, and has held a spot in their live sets ever since it was written. The photography on the controversial cover was by Peter Gravelle.

too low, tbh

"teenage suicide, which is always a bit of a joke." - what is wrong with this man's brain?

i'd guess you'd call it cowardice

highest placer from Outlandos or am I forgetting something?

Sorry about the delay...

https://i.imgur.com/b24ue1O.jpg

9. Invisible Sun
From: Ghost in the Machine
Single Released: September 25, 1981
603 Points, 19 Votes

I actually wrote the song in Ireland, where I was living at the time. It was during the hunger strikes in Belfast. I wanted to write about that but I wanted to show some light at the end of the tunnel. I do think there has to be an "invisible sun". You can't always see it, but there has to be something radiating light into our lives.

— Sting, Revolver, 2000

The song's lyrics stem from songwriter Sting's pondering how people living in war-torn and/or impoverished countries find the will to go on living, and despite the dark music and often morbid lyrical statements, the song carries an intensely uplifting and optimistic message. The song was deeply personal for drummer Stewart Copeland, whose hometown of Beirut was being heavily bombed at the time of the song's recording:

For me, the song was about Beirut, where I'd grown up, which at that point was going up in flames. My hometown was being vilified by the media as a terrorist stronghold, and it was being blasted by bombs and napalm. Twenty thousand Lebanese were killed that year. And the Lebanese must have been feeling some heat from the invisible sun, because they were keeping their peckers up.

— Stewart Copeland, Revolver, 2000

The song is a departure from Police songs before it; "Invisible Sun" contains a dark, looping synthesizer beat, and powerful, haunting lyrics. Among other things, the lyrics refer to the ArmaLite rifle used by paramilitary organisations, but mainly by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The music video for "Invisible Sun" features a collection of video clips taken from the conflict in Northern Ireland. Owing to its subject matter, it was banned by the BBC.

Some of my misheard lyrics from childhood:

"Pot says in a material world"

"That book might never come" (that book by nabokov)

"[something something] Christopher" (every line in the synchronicity chorus)

"This girl is half diseased"

God I love this song, the atmospheric sounds really works for me.

remember this great moment?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkWPNd2tpuE

"xp wait what? tell me more!

― sleeve"

assuming this was directed at me re: Andy Summers, this in particular is really gorgeous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3lNShy7zGY

great song. the line "but I don't even wanna die just yet" bothers me though. just couldn't make the line scan I guess.

And the Lebanese must have been feeling some heat from the invisible sun, because they were keeping their peckers up.

Salami! Salami! Salami!

xp "King of Pain," one of the all time best music worst lyrics contenders. Perhaps #1.

"washed a pullover when the atmosphere is less than perfect"

otm

"deathwish in the fading light, hitler running through the night"

https://i.imgur.com/d9w7KHX.jpg

8. Driven To Tears
From: Zenyattà Mondatta
Released: October 3. 1980
live in Fréjus 1980, from "Urgh! A Music War" - 1 Vote
628 Points, 19 Votes, 1 Number One

The theme of the song is the divide between rich and poor. It was one of the first politically themed songs the Police released, and the first that Sting wrote. Sting was inspired to write the song while on tour in the United States in 1979 after seeing the plight of starving children in Biafra on television. Sting has stated that the title and song came to him because he was literally driven to tears by the show.[4] The song asks questions but finds no answers. One line of the song refers to the fact that people can afford the technology to watch television, but not food for the starving children.

The song is in the key of A minor. It incorporates a powerful eight bar guitar solo by Police guitarist Andy Summers, one of his few solos on Zenyatta Mondatta. Author Erica Starr has described Stewart Copeland's drum playing on the song as "jerky" and "syncopated" but that the beats "float around with great ease," noting that the song has "tremendous energy and forward momentum." Rolling Stone critic David Fricke points to "Driven to Tears" as an example of The Police indulging "their love for reggae," describing the song as "brooding." Allmusic critic Chris True describes the song as a "midtempo reggae workout.

Some of Andy's best textures on this one.

Other thoughts:

every breath at 20, that makes sense to me. roxanne out of the top ten? come on now

The destructive power of overexposure is real. Like how on the ILM Zeppelin poll "Stairway" was, like, #20 or something, after having been feted as THE GREATEST ROCK SONG OF ALL TIME by all the classic rock stations in the 80s (which it obviously never was).

According to Summers, there was originally going to be a link between this song and counterpart "Synchronicity II":

"We had this section for 'Synchronicity' which we referred to as The Loch. I went in and detuned my guitar synth to C sharp and it produced a great wash of sound, lovely. And there was an acoustic on top, a few cymbals and an oboe, really serene. We were going to have it at the end of 'Synchronicity I' — it was supposed to be the Loch Ness Monster — and then it would go into 'Synchronicity II'. But we couldn't really get it to work. Miles (Copeland) didn't like it... it was too psychedelic for him.

Ok, so now I really want to hear that. The first part is one of my absolute favorite things they did for all the reasons described upthread, what a rush.

One of the things about "Spirits" that I realized the other night is that, despite the synth-heavy arrangement, it's actually one of the most reggae things they did. The string synth on the verse is substituting for the skank guitar while Sting plays an absolutely unbelievable bass part (that I find it hard to believe he wouldn't have simplified to play live).

"Invisible Sun" is a moody motherfucker. Not better than "Spirits" but completely awesome.

“driven to tears” was my number one, that incredible solo was a big reason why

6-7 years ago "Driven To Tears" would have been my #1. It spent more time as my favorite than "Omegaman."

One of the best fake endings.

it's actually one of the most reggae things they did.

and to think how a synth string section would defang most of the decade's subsequent white reggae attempts

https://i.imgur.com/fsr2hlz.jpg

7. Bring on the Night
From: Reggatta de Blanc
Single Released: November 22, 1979
652 Points, 20 Votes, 1 Number One

Some of the lyrics of "Bring on the Night" were recycled from the song "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)", which was written by Sting for the band Last Exit. The title "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)" was taken from Ted Hughes's poem "King of Carrion," which is about Pontius Pilate. However, after reading The Executioner's Song, Sting felt that the words fitted Gary Gilmore's death wish, and says that since then, "I sing it with him in mind."

Another line from "Bring on the Night", "when the evening spreads itself against the sky," is taken from T. S. Eliot's poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," written in 1910-15. In Lyrics By Sting, Sting said of this, "What is it Eliot said? 'Bad poets borrow, good poets steal'?"

The song was only released as an album track in Britain, but was released as a single in the United States, Germany and France in November 1979. It was backed with "Visions of the Night" (the British B-side to "Walking on the Moon") in the United States, with "Reggatta de Blanc" in Germany, and with "Roxanne" in France. The single managed to hit No. 6 in France; however the song did not make it into the charts in the US and Germany.

The unexpected source for "Edge of Seventeen."

My wife can't stand Sting and doesn't really care for the Police either. But she was really taken by "Bring on the Night" when I played it the other day and was asking me if it was one of the tracks they recorded at George Martin's studio in the Caribbean (we watched the doc).

The verse with the guitar arpeggios is absolutely stunning -- poss. the song that grew on me the most that I already knew for this poll. I'd have put it top 5 if I had more time to debate it.

Yes that beautiful guitar playing during the verses, so lilting and lovely

Also: it's worth noting that the live version of this on the Sting album of the same name is fucking great -- I actually think the chorus is maybe a little better. Kenny Kirkland's piano on the "When the World Is Running Down" part blew me away as a kid and is actually just as amazing today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXviYxufvOg

https://i.imgur.com/koR5Pu5.jpg

6. Don’t Stand So Close to Me
From: Zenyattà Mondatta
Released: October 3. 1980
1986 Version - 2 Votes
653 Points, 20 Votes, 1 Number One

The song deals with the mixed feelings of lust, fear and guilt that a school teacher has for a student and the fallout when the inappropriate relationship is discovered by other adults. The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" alludes to Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita, which covers somewhat similar issues.[5] The line was criticised for rhyming "shake and cough" with Nabokov. Sting replied, "I've used that terrible, terrible rhyme technique a few times."

Before joining The Police, Sting had previously worked as an English teacher. He referred to the song's story progression as "the teacher, the open page, the virgin, the rape in the car, getting the sack."

In 1993, however, he said of the song's inspiration, "You have to remember we were blond bombshells at the time and most of our fans were young girls so I started roleplaying a bit. Let's exploit that." He also stated that the song does not have a basis in fact, stating that "To be frank, it was right in our market. A lot of teenage girls were buying our records. So the idea was, let's write a Lolita story." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Mike Duquette describes the theme as "a man going insane in a post-apocalyptic world." In a 2001 interview for the concert DVD ...All This Time, Sting denied that the song is autobiographical.

That is all so gross.

eww

stunning promotion for miss gradenko if she's made the top 5 though

“a man going insane” yeahhhh, right, it’s what you’d do when the pressure really got to you, is it?

when I was a kid I played some PC game for which the BGM was just like a MIDI version of "Bring on the Night". wish I remembered what it was!