Sting Wrote This Popular Wedding Song in 1982 While His Own Marriage Was Falling Apart

Everybody knows the song “Every Breath You Take” by The Police. For years, the Synchronicity track has been revered as both the ultimate stalker anthem and a classic 80s tune. For some, it’s even been chosen as a wedding song.

However, Sting, who wrote “Every Breath You Take” amidst the failure of his first marriage, probably wouldn’t suggest using the song for your celebration of love.

Once, the singer even referred to the major career hit of his as “a nasty little song.”

“Once I’d written and performed it, I realized it was quite dark,” he once explained to Daniel Rachel. “My intention might have been to write a romantic song, seductive, enveloping and warm. Then I saw another side of my personality was involved, too, about control and jealousy, and that’s its power. It was written at a difficult time.”

What Is “Every Breath You Take” Really About?

At the time when “Every Breath You Take” was written, Sting was actually staying at his friend’s estate in Oracabessa Bay, Jamaica. This was where he chose to run away amidst a rather public affair and divorce from his first wife, Francis Tomelty.

He’s explained that when writing “Every Breath You Take”, he was thinking about “Big Brother, surveillance, and control.”

Sting and Tomelty were married in 1976 and had two children together. In the 80s, Sting and the actress divorced once he started having an affair with Tomelty’s best friend, Trudie Styler.

Sting would later reveal that The Police song “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” was actually written about Styler. In contrast, while that song has romantic undertones, “Every Breath You Take” aims for a different feel. Just look at the lyrics. From one angle, it sounds like Sting is singing about his breakup. From another, it seems like he’s singing from the perspective of the media.

Every move you make
And every vow you break
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake
I’ll be watching you.

He even admitted of this song to BBC Radio 2: “I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have actually misinterpreted it as being a gentle little love song, when it’s quite the opposite. Hence so.”

Photo by: Larry Hulst/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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