Every Breath You Take
The theme I chose for this year is
Greatest Hits as suggested by AI
It’s important to note that AI was only used for the song suggestion, not in the actual putting together of the post.
Today our suggested Greatest Hit is: Every Breath You Take
Wikipedia tells us this about the song:
To escape the public eye, Sting retreated to the Caribbean. He started writing the song at Ian Fleming's writing desk on the Goldeneye estate in Oracabessa, Jamaica. The lyrics are the words of a possessive lover who is watching "every breath you take; every move you make". Sting recalled:
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.
When asked why he appears angry in the music video, Sting told 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." Gary T. Marx, sociologist and scholar of surveillance studies, wrote in 1988 that, while the song was "a love rather than a protest song", it "nicely captures elements of the new surveillance". He compared the lines to various new technologies of surveillance, including linking "every breath you take" to breath analyzers, "every step you take" to ankle monitors, and "every vow you break" to voice stress analysis.
According to the Back to Mono box-set book, "Every Breath You Take" is influenced by a Gene Pitney song titled "Every Breath I Take". Led Zeppelin's song, "D'yer Mak'er" (1973), also contains the words "every breath I take; every move I make".
Enjoy!
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ReplyDeleteWhat a great selection for E. Love, love this song! And thanks for the insight into Sting and how the song came about.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the few Police songs I like even though I always found it disturbing
ReplyDeleteYeah, definitely not the pretty little love song. Like stalker.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind writing something at the desk of Ian Fleming ;-) The song is kind of dark for having such catchy tune. Until now, I wouldn't have thought of AI or surveillance. How times change...
ReplyDeleteI do this thing mostly at home when I find something creepy, I say "that's not creepy at all" and let the sarcasm sink in. Even though, I loved thats ong since it came out, more and more I hear myself saying "That's not creepy at all" when the song comes on these days. https://dave-homeschooldad.blogspot.com/2024/04/e-is-for-engaged-couples-friday.html
ReplyDeleteWe knew someone who thought this was about Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI love Sting. But I never cared for this song. It is terrifying in my opinion. I'm visiting from A to Z annbennett2.blogspot.com
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