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Rating: Extremely difficult is to talk about The Police, one of the bands that had the duty and honor to be the soundtrack of one's adolescence, that short and early adolescence that characterized kids back then, who at nine years old were already listening to singer-songwriters and didn't feel the parental/television obligation to still be sucklings of cartoons and video games.
Extremely difficult because I remember very well the joy I felt holding that light gray tape from A&M, that tape from which emerged a screaming and punchy voice, a crazy guitar for the standards of the time, and perhaps the most beautiful and innovative drumming one could imagine. For someone like me, who had few tapes but of Pink or Battisti, that sound impact was entirely new and had an immense impact, also emotionally. Over time, and with a billion minutes of music listened to under my belt, my opinion hasn't changed one bit. Before, there were great bands from our parents or older siblings. At most, debates were about the superiority of The Beatles over The Stones, Led Zeppelin over Deep Purple, or Gabriel-era Genesis over The Eagles, or their singer-songwriter brilliance (Dylan) over ours (De André or Guccini), or the so-called right-wing (Battisti) over the declared left-wing (De Gregori). But in '77-'78, you could feel the air changing, a bit everywhere. And it’s hard to frame these important years in the '70s...
Let me put it this way: in '77-'78, my dear ones, the '80s begin, and there are no calendar tricks that can beat that. In those years, The Police, Dire Straits, Pino Daniele (the Good one), Vasco Rossi (still the Good one), Prince, U2, Simple Minds began, etc..., all people who would dominate from then on. And does that seem insignificant to you...? An important page of great music was being turned in the now nearly completed book of the seven notes. And of this beautiful page, The Police wrote some of the most beautiful lines, without a doubt. The only problem, given the years and the tendency towards lazy condensation of emotions, is that the five albums of The Policemen start to be seen as a single, unmatched album. And here’s why I take the liberty to point out this product, where the works of the Policemen are displayed in sequence on four CDs, full of live versions, B Sides, and various unreleased tracks. And, of course, the complete studio works. Four CDs to devour, starting from the hard-to-find “Fall Out”, the first single without an album, to “Don’t Stand So Close To Me '86”, the last single (fortunately ?) without an album. In “Fall Out” we hear a band brimming with energy, closer to beloved punk than the “white reggae” that would make them very famous and unique, while in “Don’t Stand So Close To Me '86” we hear a nod to the (already present) Sting “post-Police”, more contained, composed, and very charismatic, an interesting guitar riff as always, and especially, the effect of the numerous quarrels between Sting and Copeland, that is the sampled drumming of the latter, which if it was present during recordings, then I am a classical ballerina (the samples then could be recognized from afar...).
In between, however, there is paradise. A paradise that moves from the unrestrained pleasure of “Outlandos D’Amour”, to the absolute perfection of sound of “Regatta De Blanc”, to the madness of the unjustly underrated “Zenyatta Mondatta” and “Ghost In The Machine”, to the “stinghian” perfections of “Synchronicity”, an album symbolizing a great story coming to an end, making way for the enjoyable pedantry of Sting the soloist, but still with some great tom and hi-hat passages from Copeland and some measured guitar madness from Summers. And it's all included between '78 and '83, with the only exception of the '86 single. Even looking retrospectively at The Beatles' career, one realizes how, in other eras, so much of importance could be said in very few years full of good music (Hendrix, for example, only needed less than four years...).
Needless, therefore, in my opinion, to exercise in the art of classifying The Police's work, both for its extremely high quality and for the very little time between one record and the next. If anything, every comparison should be shifted between The Police’s work and that of Sting the soloist, so controversial and capable of peaks and falls. The fact is that Sting will become an excellent author and professional singer (in every broader sense of the term...), and will remain an enviable stage animal, Andy Summers will dedicate himself to jazz, with products always of high level, and some really excellent, while Stewart Copeland will oscillate between soundtracks, ethnic escapades, and risky adventures, like the one with the “new” Doors, which happily ended in a lawsuit.
What could happen if the three of them reunited today, 23 years after the effective dissolution of the group...? Leaving aside all nostalgic conservatism, I remain one of those who hope so, because I believe that, deep down, none of the three has aged badly, and that a new work by The Police, which takes into account today’s world, music, and society, along with all the time and experience that has passed, would certainly be of great interest.
I would envision it this way: a beautiful autumn album, with great long and super-effect-laden chords and crazy solos by Summers, with a mature Sting, more charismatic and less screaming, and a Copeland infinitely less punk and very precise, studied and meditative, with those two sticks flying quickly on the most inimitable hi-hat and on the snare drum with the most beautiful sound in music history.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Fallout (02:03)
I never followed leaders
I got no machine
An' I paid my dues all along
Always says your freakin'
When I mess with other people
'Cause I knew that I was really alone
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
I saw my education
It was my indoctrination
Just to be another parking machine
Always says your freakin'
When I mess with other people
'Cause I knew that I was not very clean
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Henri!
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Fall out, fall out with all the leaders and guys
Fall Out!
And after listening to a lot of different live
versions (and the original!) this is what we
think the lyrics actually are. Take your pick!
I never followed leaders
I've got my own team
And I've paid my dues all along
Always had to fake it
When I mixed with other people
'Cause I knew that I was really alone
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
I sold my education
It was my indoctrination
Just to be another cog in the machine
Always had to fake it
When I mixed other people
'Cause I knew that I was not very clean
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Henri!
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Fall out, fall out all the leaders and gangs
Fall Out!
02 Nothing Achieving (01:56)
My daddy's boots don't fit me
'Cause I'm bigger than him
He says I make him big now
I'm bigger than him
You see there's nothing worth achieving
All your dreams are just deceiving
You've locked the doors on your good living
And you told me to wait
You've got me backed into a corner
You're making me hate
I say there's nothing worth achieving
All your dreams are just deceiving
[They say there's nothing worth achieving
All your dreams are just deceiving]
Throwing stones that are reeling
From a reasonable light
You muscle in when I have a party
Ready to fight
I say there's nothing worth achieving
All your dreams are just deceiving
Nothing
Nothing
Nothing
03 Dead End Job (03:35)
I don't want no dead end job
I don't wanna be no number
I don't want no dead end job
I don't wanna be no number
The queue gets longer everyday
I just ain't no time to stay
I ain't gonna run away
All I want to do is play
Don't wanna be no teacher
I don't wanna be no slave
I don't wanna work no assembly line
A' like my uncle Dave
The queue gets longer everyday
I just ain't got time to stay
I ain't gonna run away
All I wanna do is play
I don't want no dead end job
I don't want no dead end job
I don't want no dead end job
I don't want no dead end job
I don't want no dead end job
I don't wanna be no number
I don't want no dead end job
I don't wanna be no number
The queue gets longer everyday
All I wanna do is play
I just ain't got time to stay
But I ain't gonna run away
Don't wanna be no millionaire
Don't wanna own no mint
I don't wanna be no tax exile
And I don't mind being skint
04 Next to You (02:52)
I can't stand it for another day
When you live so many miles away.
Nothing here is gonna make me stay,
(You) took me over, let me find a way.
I sold my house
I sold my motor, too.
All I want is to be Next To You.
I'd rob a bank
Maybe steal a plane.
You took me over,
Think I'm goin' insane.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
I've had a thousand girls or maybe more,
But I've never felt like this before.
But I just don't know what's come over me,
You took me over, take a look at me.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
What can I do,
All I want is to be next to you.
All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you,
All I want is to be next to you.
So many times I used to give a sign
Got this feeling, gonna lose my mind.
When all it is is just a love affair.
You took me over baby, take me there.
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you
What can I do
All I want is to be next to you.
All I want is to be next to you...
05 So Lonely (04:51)
Well, someone told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you just don't care
You look as if you're going somewhere
But I just can't convince myself
I couldn't live with no one else
And I can only play that part
And sit and nurse my broken heart
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
Now, no one's knocked upon my door
For a thousand years or more
All made up and nowhere to go
Welcome to this one-man show
Just take a seat, they're always free
No surprise, no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
I feel lonely, oh so lonely
I feel so alone
I feel low
I feel so, feel so low
I feel low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
Low, I feel low
I feel low
I feel low
I feel so lonely
I feel so lonely
I feel so lonely, lonely, lonely, lone
Lonely, lone
I feel so alone, yeah
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
So lonely, so lonely, so lonely
06 Roxanne (03:14)
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don't have to sell your body to the night
Roxanne
You don't have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Ro
I loved you since I knew you
I wouldn't talk down to you
I have you to tell just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy
I know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
Told you once I won't tell you again
It's a bad way
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne (You don't have to put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (You don't have to put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
07 Hole in My Life (04:54)
Yeah
There's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Shadow in my heart
Is tearing me apart
Or maybe it's just something
In my stars
There's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Be a happy man
I try the best I can
Or maybe I'm just looking
For too much
There's something missing from my life
Cuts me open like a knife
It leaves me vulnerable
I have this disease
I shake like an incurable
God help me please
Oh, there's a hole
In my life
There's a hole
In my life
Yeah...
08 Peanuts (04:01)
It's all a game
You're not the same
Your famous name
The price of fame
Oh no
Try to liberate me
I said oh no
Stay and irritate me
I said oh no
Try to elevate me
I said oh no
Just a fallen hero
Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
You sang your song
For much too long
The songs they're wrong
The bread has gone
Oh no
Try to liberate me
I said oh no
Stay and irritate me
I said oh no
Try to elevate me
I said oh no
Just a fallen hero
Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
It's all a game
You're not the same
Your famous name
The price of fame
Oh no
Try to liberate me
I said oh no
Stay and irritate me
I said oh no
Try to elevate me
I said oh no
Just a fallen hero
[Oh, you're just a fallen hero]
Don't wanna hear about the drugs you're taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
Don't wanna find out what you've been taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
Don't wanna find out what you've been taking
Don't wanna read about the love you're making
Don't wanna hear about the life you're faking
Don't wanna read about the muck they're raking
Peanuts, peanuts
Peanuts
10 Truth Hits Everybody (02:54)
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Sleep lay behind me like a broken ocean
Strange waking dreams before my eyes unfold
You lay there sleeping like an open doorway
I stepped outside myself and felt so cold
Take a look at my new toy
It'll blow your head in two, oh boy
Truth hits everybody
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone
I thought about it and my dream was broken
I clutch at images like dying breath
And I don't want to make a fuss about it
The only certain thing in life is death
Take a look at my new toy
It'll blow your head in two, oh boy
Truth hits everybody
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone
Where you want to be
Won't you ever see
Truth hits everybody
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everybody (oh, oh, oh)
Truth hits everyone
11 Born in the 50's (03:44)
We were born
Born in the fifties
Born
Born in the fifties
My mother cried
When president Kennedy died
She said it was the Communists
But I knew better
Would they drop the bomb on us
While we made love on the beach
We were the class they couldn't teach
'Cos we knew better
We were born
Born in the fifties
Born
Born in the fifties
They screamed
When the Beatles sang
And they laughed when the King fell down the stairs
Oh they should've known better
Oh we hated our aunt
Then we messed in our pants
Then we lost our faith and prayed to the TV
Oh we should've known better
We were born
Born in the fifties
We freeze like statues on the pages of history
Living was never like this when we took all those G. C. S. E.'s
Oh you opened the door for us
And then you turned to dust
You don't understand us
So don't reprimand us
We're taking the future
We don't need no teacher
12 Be My Girl-Sally (03:23)
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my, be my,
Be my girl
I was blue and lonely, I couldn't sleep a wink
And I could only get unconscious if I'd had to much to drink.
There was somehow, something wrong somewhere,
And each day seemed grey and dead
The seeds of desperation were growing in my head.
I needed inspiration, a brand new start in life,
Somewhere to place affection, but I didn't want a wife.
And then by lucky chance I saw [in] a special magazine
An ad. that was unusual, the like I'd never seen,
"Experience something different with our new imported toy,
She's loving, warm, inflatable and a guarantee of joy."
She came all wrapped in cardboard, all pink and shrivelled down
A breath of air was all she needed to make her lose that frown.
I took her to the bedroom and pumped her with some life,
And later in a moment that girl became my wife.
And so I sit her in the corner and sometimes stroke her hair
And when I'm feeling naughty I blow her up with air
She's cuddly and she's bouncy, she's like a rubber ball,
I bounce her in the kitchen and I bounce her in the hall.
[And now my life is different since Sally came my way]
I wake up [in the] morning and have her on a tray
She's everything they say she was and I wear a permanent grin,
And I only have to worry in case my girl wears pins.
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my girl
Won't you be my, be my,
Be my girl
13 Masoko Tanga (05:43)
Moderator's Note:
While this song has lyrics, they are nonsense words.
This was intentional.
16 Landlord (03:09)
I don't want to rent a house from you
I don't know how you can expect me to
I ain't moving 'cause I know my rights
Too many homeless on the streets at night
You own a street and a block of flats
You earn your living like the other rats
You've no morality, what do you care
You deal in poverty, you buy despair
I ain't moving 'till the bailiff comes
I've got no weapons, gonna get me some
I ain't moving 'till the bailiff comes
I've got no weapons, gonna get me some
You go and call yourself a business man
You're just a parasite on Pyllosan
You're just a middle class middle aged shit
You sold your granny for a three-penny bit
You own a street and a block of flats
You earn your living like the other rats
You've no morality, what do you care
You deal in poverty, you buy despair
I ain't moving 'till the bailiff comes
I've got no weapons, gonna get me some
I ain't moving 'till the bailiff comes
I've got no weapons, gonna get me some
17 Message in a Bottle (04:50)
Just a castaway, an island lost at sea, oh
Another lonely day, with no one here but me, oh
More loneliness than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life or
Love can break your heart
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
Walked out this morning, don't believe what I saw
Hundred billion bottles washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone at being alone
Hundred billion castaways, looking for a home
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
Message in a bottle, yeah
I'm sending out an S.O.S.
I'm sending out an S.O.S.
I'm sending out an S.O.S.
I'm sending out an S.O.S.
19 It's Alright for You (03:13)
Wake up
Make up
Bring it up
Shake up
Stand by
Don't cry
Watching while the world die
Big car
Movie star
Hot tip
Go far
Blind date
Too late
Take a bus
Don't wait
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
For you and you and you and you and you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
For you and you and you
Limp wrist
Tight fist
Contact
No twist
Black dress
No mess
Mm, don't want no less
Stand by
Don't cry
Watching while the world die
Three lane
Fast lane
Standing in the cold rain
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
For you and you and you and you and you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
For you
Headlight
High life
Can't sleep
Good night
Up tight
Big fight
Big deal
Too right
Big town
Don't drown
Jump back
Turn around
No life
Flick knife
Finish off my life
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
For you and you and you and you and you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
It's alright for you
For you
20 Bring on the Night (04:15)
The afternoon has gently passed me by
The evening spreads its sail against the sky
Waiting for tomorrow
Just another day
God bid yesterday goodbye
Bring on the night
I couldn't spend another hour of daylight
Bring on the night
I couldn't stand another hour of daylight
The future is but a question mark
Hangs above my head there in the dark
Can't see for the brightness
Is staring me blind
God bid yesterday goodbye
Bring on the night
I couldn't spend another hour of daylight
Bring on the night
I couldn't stand another hour of daylight
21 Deathwish (04:11)
Deathwish in the fading light
Headlight pointing through the night
Never thought I'd see the day
Playing with my life this way
Gotta keep my foot right down
If I had wings I'd leave the ground
Burning in the outside lane
People think that I'm insane
The day I take a bend too fast
Judgment that could be my last
I'll be wiped right off the slate
Don't wait up 'cause I'll be late
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