The Police’s 30 best songs of all time, ranked
The new wave trio of Sting, Stewart Copeland, and Andy Summers barely lasted a decade, but their brief catalog proves that every little thing they did was magic
Music Lists Songs
Forty years ago this summer, the Police released Synchronicity, the blockbuster album that capped their career. Although they had released their debut album Outlandos d’Amour less than five years earlier, the band was ready to call it quits, acknowledging they couldn’t replicate the runaway success of Synchronicity while also confessing that the trio of vocalist/bassist Sting, drummer Stewart Copeland, and guitarist Andy Summers couldn’t work in the same room together for much longer.
Today, their brief but rich legacy is a catalog filled with New Wave hits, classic rock staples, and genuine oddities that reveal the group’s true idiosyncratic character. Their swan song, Synchronicity, is a complex, contradictory album but its polished peculiarity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Rather, it serves as a fitting cap for the Police, whose body of work remains inventive and intriguing all these years later.
95 Comments
I would’ve thrown “On Any Other Day” somewhere in the twenties. I always took Stewart Copeland’s side in the beef. His sense of humor fit mine much better. And he’s one of the best drummers ever.
There was a discussion of him a while back (can’t remember the context). His speed and precision are incredible, and I love that he became such a prolific soundtrack guy and producer. I do like that every time he hits the snare he blinks like it was a surprise.
Copeland is my favorite drummer in large part because his personality comes through in his playing.
He’s one of the few percussionists in popular music that can be identified without hearing any other part of the song. Matt Cameron is another person on that very short list.
Alex Van Halen has a very distinctive sound too. You’d never mistake him for anybody else.
Absolutely. He did a lot of traditionally unconventional things, especially for the style of music Van Halen was playing.
The drum intro to “Hot For Teacher” is one of those things that, even after seeing it broken down step-by-step, I still can’t fully wrap my head around what he’s doing.
Just a bit of a downer about Hot for Teacher—-that was not played in one take. Its an overdub of some Simmons pads (electronic drum pads) over his acoustic drum patterns.If you want to see somebody play it (as best you can in one take), here’s Charlie:I think Mike Mangini (now of Dream Theater) covered it a couple of time too.
I love “On any other day “,but the “my fine young son has turned out gay “ line amongst the bad shit that happened to the protagonist that day,probably hasn’t aged well.
Stew seems like a remarkably humble and charming dude in the interviews I’ve seen of him lately. And yes, he’s one of the most iconic drummers ever. Nobody in popular music quite sounds like him.
Copeland really is brilliant and retains such an infectious, boyish enthusiasm for what he does. The Police really were lightning in the bottle—the combination of talent, competing ambition, personality. I worshipped Sting when he was in the Police and then later I realized I preferred the Sting that was also Stewart and Andy.
The rankings should have included a “how-the-hell-did-Copeland-manage-to-do-that?” component as part of them.
you know he’s good when he got drummers like neil peart trying to cop his styles.
The Police are one of my all-time favorite bands, but I think I’d put “Tea in the Sahara” on the list of Police Songs I Don’t Care if I Never Hear Again in My Lifetime. I’d put in “Born in the 50’s” over that.
I didn’t really care for “Tea in the Sahara” at first, but over the years something about the surreal and melancholy lyrics resonated with me and I’m actually quite fond of it now.But you’re right, “Born in the 50’s” absolutely should’ve made the list.
It fits if you’re listening to the full album (which I typically did, cassette-era kid here). I wouldn’t seek it out.
I believe Sting said that Tea was one of his favorites.
Wait, Deathwish isn’t even on this list? That’s total fail. Holy crap check this shit out:Honestly watch that whole show it’s amazing! Copeland is one of the all time greats.
Solid list, but it’s a crime not to include “No Time This Time”. Easily one of Copeland’s greatest drum performances and an absolute barn-burner of a song.I also would’ve liked to see “Does Everyone Stare” and “Miss Gradenko”.
“Don’t Stand So Close to Me” at #1????. Gah.I’d take “Spirits in the Material World”, “Message in a Bottle” and “King of Pain” any day of the week over that song. Extremely overrated and overplayed.How you know MiaB is great—-it, too, is overplayed—-but you never grow tired of it.
I feel like that’s number 1 because it got the most airplay. More than half the songs on the list are better than Don’t Stand So Close to Me. Canary in a Coalmine, Man in a Suitcase, Walking on the Moon…hell Roxanne is a better song than Don’t Stand.
Every Breath You Take was a #1 hit, so I’m guessing that got more airplay over the years than Don’t Stand So Close to Me.
Maybe when it came out but I think Don’t Stand So Close to Me got more airplay overall…it’s still on rotation on the Sirius ‘80s channel.
Don’t Stand also had the slowed-down remake some years later that got a lot of attention from the MTV crowd who may not have caught it the first time around. Anyway, personal list: Synchronicity IRehumanize YourselfNext to You
EBYT was #1 for 8 weeks and DSSCTM peaked at #10 (Billboard).
EBYT is also alleged to be the most-played song ever: https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/05/15/stings-every-breath-you-take-is-now-the-most-played-radio-song-eclipsing-youve-lost-that-lovin-feeling
Eh, I heard Don’t Stand a lot more than Every Breath in the ‘80s and I still hear it more up until today. Just saying that might be why they picked it, maybe they have the same experience as me.In any case, neither song is even close to The Police’s best.
After reading along, I have genuinely tried to sing EBYT in my head for the last half-hour and I literally can’t do it without ending up with a Faith Evans vocal. I loathe that “version” so much that it definitely ruined whatever tolerance I had for the original. It’s is also not one of my favorites so I didn’t want to actually listen to it (nor see the video which I never need to see again) but now I need to just to cleanse the bastardized atrocity.
Yeah because of this convo I have the Every Breath chorus stuck in my head but I’m gonna cleanse it with a helping of Man in a Suitcase and then a good hour or two of prog rock.
Certainly, back in the day, EBYT was the Police song in heaviest rotation.
GAH!
I have to go with Synchronicity II. How can you not love a song that includes the line “And every single meeting with his so called superior / Is a humiliating kick in the crotch?”
Do you think he resorted to that to rhyme with “loch” or vice versa?
I love that song too, the riffs during the verses are incredibly catchy. For some reason it gets panned by the fans a lot.And yeah, I’d take it any day of the week over Don’t Stand…
Now I’ve got “ohhhohhhhohhhh” stuck in my head.
This song allowed Andy Summers to flex his classic rock chops like no other. Amazing.
The only thing that would have made it worse would be if they had specified the shitty, shitty remix from the greatest hits compilation as the preferred version.
I’d put “Wrapped Around Your Finger,” “Bring on the Night” and “Bed’s Too Big” a lot higher, and I think “Next to You” is a little over-ranked here. I’d also put “Omegaman” and “Darkness” in the mix.
Check that video I posted, good versions of Bring on the Night and Bed’s Too Big there. Love the Bring on the Night bass.
Starred for the Omegaman. Also wondering where Too Much Information is.
“My foot’s too big for my shoe” works perfectly and is fun to sing.
Obviously all such lists are a matter of personal preference but Invisible Sun should be top 5 and if you disagree with me, you’re an idiot.
Yup that’s in my top 10.
If you’re being banned from the BBC for political references in the 80s , you’re probably doing good.
Yeah, I’d put Invisible Sun in the top 10.
Hell, I knew “Invisible Sun” was The Police’s best song and I was 11.
Tomorrow on AV Club: The AV Club’s 50 Best Slideshow Lists of all time, ranked
Inexplicably in video format.
PIVOT TO SLIDESHOW VIDEOS
“50 Best Kurt Sutter shows of all time” — The AVCluboh, wait….
“De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da” is a horrible song
“Oh, the lyrics of that song are so mindless!”-person who never bothered to listen to the verses of “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da”
The worst part of that song is makes me want to listen to “Doot Doot,” which may be truly mindless but hits all the nostalgia buttons for me.“And we go doot, doot doot [repeat]”
… And the colored girls go
”Doo do doo do doo do do doo…”
Yeah but that song is incredible (and a foreshadowing of things to come with Underworld) while this Police track is trash
I actually like the 86′ version that was canned when their remix album didnt happen.
Yeah, the verses make it better lol. It’s secretly a cool song under the guise of a crappy song. Is that what you’re saying here?
Definitely WAY too high in the order when you actually look at the truly amazing songs on this list. I don’t dislike the song, but it’s not one of their top-10 (let alone top-3).
Wrapped Around Your Finger” is a tale of an apprentice slowly, surely usurping his master.That’s what you got from that song? Shit, when I first heard it, I was playing a lot of Dungeons & Dragons, and never once did the allusions to rings or apprentices or masters ever feel fantastical, other than the dreams of a spurned lover.
“I have only come here seeking knowledge
Things they would not teach me of in college
I can see the destiny you sold turned into a shining band of gold”
That isn’t a ring of spells, it’s a wedding band. The entire song is a fantasy of getting his now-married ex-girlfriend to leave her husband for him.
And then turning her into a statue?
Pretty sure “turn your face to alabaster” wasn’t turning someone into a statue as much as shock at the turn of events causing all the blood to drain from one’s face. If one is a lighter-hued human. Never once literally thought it was about turning someone to stone. But fuck, I was 12 when I first heard and interpreted these songs, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
It’s an interesting interpretation you have. I’ve never heard it before. Knowing Sting is into myth and magic, I never thought to look beyond face value.
What he says is: “…a spiteful song about turning the tables on someone who had been in charge … [t]his song is vaguely alchemical and probably about a friend of mine, a professional psychic and my tutor in tarot, with bits of Doctor Faustus and ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ thrown into the pot for good measure.”Which is not to say the Faust stuff can’t be metaphor.
I was baffled by that interpretation as well. It’s pretty clearly another song about jealousy and wanting to flip the power dynamic with an estranged lover. None of the mystical and mythological references are meant literally.
Since The Police is my favorie band of all time and I’ve been known over the years to go on philisophical waxing that borders on the obessive ranting, I’ll keep my comments brief….Putting “Fall Out” on this list and not “Hungry For You”, “Bombs Away”, “Man in a Suitcase”, or even “Regggatta da Blanc” (a seriously underrated jam track by three incredibly skilled musicians just playing music) is the height of folly.
Love that Man in a Suitcase bassline!
CONCURRED.when i was learning bass, i used to put the police discography on shuffle and play for hours.‘spirits in the material world’ and ‘voices inside my head’ are two of the funnest basslines to play.
I know that lists like these are always going to disappoint in some way, because someone else is doing the ranking, but “Bombs Away” is a pretty egregious omission.
“Synchronicity II” should be much higher imo and “Every Breath You Take” is #1 unless you’re just being contrarian. There’s a reason it’s the most played song in radio history.
The conventional take on “Every Breath” seems to have gone from “It’s so romantic!” (It’s supposed to be creepy, you idiot) to “It’s so creepy!” (It’s supposed to be, you idiot).
If I had to pick a song I think epitomises rock/pop music in the 80s, it’s Every Breath You Take.
Nothing for “Masako Tanga,” huh? You can pretty much yell any nonsense you want and have a decent shot at being right.
“AAAAHHH! AAAAAAAAHHHHH!Mothahhhhhhh”
In high school, even yawping a few syllables from “Mother” got me and a friend to crack up.
“Bring on the Night” is the Police’s best song. Fight me.
My personal favorite is walking on the moon but that’s just me.
yeah, some may say
“The telephone is ringing, is that my mother on the phone” is the ringtone I made for my mother, who gives off the same psycho energy.
HA! I put that same ringtone on my wife’s phone for her mother! 😀
Two great minds…
As a 12 year old in 1983 I bought Synchronicity and that’s the only song on the entire album that I skipped. For years. As an adult I more appreciate the sonic frontiers Stewart was exploring… but yeah, pretty much still hate it. It’s the flaw that makes the album perfect.
stewart copeland is american and his dad was in the CIA lol
As with all music lists, it should be titled “My personal top 30 favorite Police songs made up of at least a dozen that no one else in the world listens to except me to make me look like I’m a true aficionado, not like the rest of you poseurs.”
The great jazz singer Tierney Sutton recorded an entire album of Sting covers, and she explained in a concert I attended that she was reluctant to do “Every Breath You Take” for the “creepy/stalking” vibe of it, and how would a female singer deal with it? And one night she was talking with her band, and they’re all of an age when their children were leaving home for college, and it struck her that if you thought of the song in that context – a parent to a child – it had a completely different and appropriate resonance. So she begins her version with the bridge – “Since you’ve gone, I’ve been lost without a trace…” – and it’s stunning.
If you get a chance watch a documentary called, “Under the Volcano.”It’s about AIR Studios Montserrat, a recording studio George Martin, The Beatles’ legendary producer, built after The Beatles broke up.The Police recorded both Ghost in The Machine and Synchronicity there.In the video for “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic,” you see them jumping on top of a mixing board. That’s not a prop. Martin went to great lengths to get that piece of equipment there at time when there was virtually no infrastructure, i.e. roads. It took a small army of people to install it. When Martin found out The Police were jumping all over it, he was not amused.After The Police had finished recording Synchronicity, Dire Straights showed up to begin recording Brother in Arms. Mark Knopler, said, “Man I wish Sting was still here.” Because he wanted to collaborate with him. Somebody told him that Sting was still hanging around, soaking up the sun and having fun on the beach. Knopler ran him down, and that’s how Sting ended up singing that intro for “Money For Nothing.”
This is largely how Andy Richter was able to collaborate with Sting:
Personal faves: Omegaman and Walking In Your Footsteps, not to be confused with Walken In Your Footsteps which is good for exploring the space….
I think Every Breath You Take’s guitar riff is one of the best riffs of all time. COME AT ME
This list better have 27 blank slides.
Surprised the bassline in Spirits in the Material World was not mentioned, love it.
Do not hire Sting to play your wedding reception. He’ll insist on doing jazz versions of Police songs, and it’s just… demoralizing.
What, no love for ‘Mother’?
Also, you’re just being contrarian by not putting Every Breath You Take first. The reason that song’s permeated culture to the extent that its become one of the most celebrated popular songs of all time is because it’s that fucking good of a song.
Having one of the greatest music videos of all time attached to it doesn’t hurt, either.
For me it has to be “Message in a Bottle” as number one. A perfect single — music and storytelling, both.When “So Lonely” was in the charts, one of the more prominent BBC presenters of the time was Sue Lawley, and it didn’t take long for many people to hear “Sue Lawley, Sue Lawley..” instead of “So lonely, so lonely…” in the chorus of the song. The (lightweight) current affairs show Nationwide, for which Lawley was one of the presenters, even did a story about it.That was (yikes!) 45 years ago, and those wrong lyrics still pop into my head every time I hear the song.
Some of my favorite lyrics of any band:Our so-called leaders speak With words they try to jail you They subjugate the meek But it’s the rhetoric of failureand…I work all day at the factoryI’m building a machine that’s not for meThere must be a reason that I can’t seeYou’ve got to humanize yourself
You do these listicles really good but I miss the guy who wrote those Milli Vanilli entries in allmusic 🙁
I’m disappointed that “Bombs Away” didn’t make the cut, it is catchy and edgy and showcases everything I love about The Police.
How is “King of Pain” only number 11?!?