Every breath you take - The Police

Sting commented about 'Every breath you take': 'I woke up in the middle of the night with that line in my head, sat down at the piano and had written it in half an hour. The tune itself is generic, an aggregate of hundreds of others, but the words are interesting. It sounds like a comforting love song. I didn't realise at the time how sinister it is. I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance and control.'

Sting later said he was troubled by how many people think the song is more positive than it is. He insists it's about unrequited love (the song was written at the time he and his then wife divorced), about the obsession with the lost lover, the jealousy and surveillance that followed. It went on to become the Police's signature tune. As of 2003, Sting was still taking in an average of $2000 per day in royalties. In October 2007, Sting was awarded a Million-Air certificate for 9 million airplays of 'Every breath you take' in the United Kingdom.

My collection: 7" single no. 763
Found: Den Haag, 1988
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'Every breath you take' / 'Murder by numbers'