"Every Breath You Take" by The Police - The Music of Stranger Things

0:21 Hey y'all, and welcome back to Camp Nowhere, a Stranger Things podcast. My name is Lauren. And my name is Joel. Thank you all again for listening to us talk about all the things that are Stranger Things. We are near the end of a miniseries called The Music of Stranger Things where we're taking a deep dive into some key songs that are featured in the show. For this episode, we are focusing on the song Every Breath You Take by the Police. Yes, and when we say deep dive, we mean a thorough song analysis and sharing lots of research we've done about the song itself, why it was written and looking into the specific moments the song is used throughout the TV series.

1:02 Exactly why was it chosen for those moments? What kind of emotional responses does it give for the audience? How does it affect or advance the overall plot of the show? With that in mind, spoiler alert, if you have not yet watched Stranger Things in its entirety so seasons one through 5, be warned. We will be discussing spoilers. We really will. We really will. And now that you have had that sufficient warning, let's go into the first segment. So let's discuss who wrote the song, when they wrote it.

1:35 What was the historical and personal context of that? Lauren, hit us up with that research that you discovered. Absolutely. So we have to talk about this song in my research. According to Radio Fidelity, it is the number one played song in all of radio history, with more than 15,000,000 plays to its name. It was written by the British rock band The Police, which formed in 1977 and included band members Sting, Stewart Copeland and Andy Summoners. The song was released on their final album, Synchronicity, in the year 1983.

2:15 Sting was the lead vocals and played the bass, Copeland was primarily focused on drums, percussion, and some of the backup vocals, and Summoners played lead guitar and contributed to the vocals as well. We'll play a clip from a video called Every Breath You Take. The dark truth behind the Police's biggest hit by bar Chrome, Which helps explain the context of the song really well. Honestly better than I could. There are few songs more universally recognized and more widely misunderstood than The Police's 1983 hit Every Breath You Take.

2:53 For decades, it's been played at weddings and treated as a tender love ballad, but that interpretation couldn't be further from the truth. Sting himself called it a nasty little song about jealousy, surveillance and control. This paradox between sound and meaning is what makes it one of the most fascinating case studies in modern music history. The song was born out of turmoil in 1982. Sting was going through a painful divorce while beginning a new relationship that created scandal and public pressure.

3:28 At the same time, the police, despite their massive fame, were crumbling internally. Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland were locked in constant conflict. Out of this mix of personal and professional breakdown came a melody and lyric that Sting later described as the product of a mental collapse. The breakthrough came at Goldeneye, Ian Fleming's Caribbean estate in Jamaica, in the middle of the night. Sitting at Fleming's writing desk, Sting wrote the song in about half an hour. The irony is hard to miss.

4:02 A song about watching and control was conceived at the home of the man who created James Bond. The lyrics read like the monologue of a stalker. Every breath you take, every move you make, I'll be watching you. Far from romance, this is about possession and surveillance. When recording began, the band's internal fractures shaped the sound. Sting and Copeland refused to record together, so parts were laid down separately. The precision and clean Polish of the track, what makes it such a perfect pop single, came from this fractured clinical process.

4:38 The guitar riff, however, came from Andy Summers. In a single inspired take, his arpeggiated line became the defining musical hook, while Sting held the soul songwriting credit. This imbalance later fueled decades of lawsuits over royalties. Despite its dark subject matter, the song exploded on release. It topped the charts in the US and UK, stayed at #1 for weeks, and won multiple Grammy Awards. It's been called the most played song in radio history. Yet millions continued to mistake it for a love song, a misunderstanding Sting both laughed at and lamented.

5:16 He later wrote If You love Somebody, set Them Free as an antidote. But it never matched the haunting power of Every Breath You Take. Over time, the song has been analyzed not just as a personal drama but as a metaphor for wider themes of surveillance and control. Academics have linked it to Big Brother, and it has been used in film and television to evoke unease. Its famous line, I'll Be Watching You, has become shorthand for the tension between intimacy and intrusion, between devotion and obsession.

5:49 But with its success came Fallout. The song marked the creative high point of the Police and also their breaking point. The Synchronicity album became their last. Sting left the band at the peak of their fame and Every Breath You Take became both a crowning achievement and a death knell. The. Drama. The drama. That's wild that the band didn't even feel comfortable being in the same room for recording, right? Do you happen to know why? Yes, Joel, I do. The police recorded Every Breath You Take separately due to extreme personal and creative hostility, specifically between band members Sting and Stewart Copeland during the Synchronicity recording sessions.

6:34 Their volatile relationship, which often involves shouting matches, physical confrontations, made collaborating in the same room nearly impossible, leading them to record different parts individually while in different separate rooms. It's like they were in timeout, you know? Wow. But like they were in the same building. Yep. But they would just just. Didn't want to be near each other. So yeah. And it was. I found that it was a creative conflict. So Sting, he had envisioned a simple, Moody, minimalistic ballad, and I guess that directly clashed with Copeland's vision for the song.

7:13 He wanted it to be more energetic, and he wanted to have a more forceful drumming style, so he wanted the drums to be more emphasized. It was a hostile environment. I found that the atmosphere was described as very dark, with band members punching each other out and battling to the point where they just couldn't work together. That is just like, I know it's sad wild to me. Like, I know it's like, are we toddlers? I don't know. So to top it all off, there was an internal power struggle going on. So the tension was exacerbated by Sting's growing desire to have total control over his music and his shifting focus toward a solo career.

7:54 Ultimately, this force separation allowed guitarist Andy Sumners, man. And I feel for Sumners. It's like he's just an innocent bystander in this, like, conflict that's going on. But it allowed him the opportunity to lay down the iconic clean, arpeggiated guitar line independently, and that kind of helped redeem the song and kind of broke it free from this creative deadlock that was going on. So bless him, Homeboy went through a lot being in that band. So the police. They named their album Synchronicity based on the concept of meaningful coincidences coined by psychologist Carl Jun, influenced by Arthur Kosler's 1972 book The Roots of Coincidence.

8:41 The title reflected the band's interest and how seemingly unrelated events can be connected emotionally or symbolically, a theme that mirrored the fraud, tense and nearly broken state of the band during recording. Yeah, yeah. So that's more of the personal context of the album and song. But historical context is important too, and a feature by the Grammys written by David McPherson in June of 2023, he wrote Synchronicity also captured the zeitgeist. I'm just going to make a note here. So Lauren and I didn't actually know what that word meant.

9:21 Nope. So we looked it up. So zeitgeist is a German word that basically means the spirit of the age. So it's meant to capture what the intellectual, cultural, political, economic climate of that time was like. Back to the quote, synchronicity also captured the zeitgeist and 1983 unemployment was at a record high and the Cold War lingered, causing global worries of what these superpowers might do next. For many Gen. Xers, this LP was one of the first records they purchased at their local shop, and for many musicians, it meant everything.

10:03 The record remains A masterwork and a meaningful document, and a feature from Rolling Stone. It was written, as Sting was always fond of saying, Every Breath You Take wasn't the most radically original song in the world. In 1993, when an interviewer told him you completely ripped off Bob Marley on So Lonely, Sting agreed. Well, totally. No woman, no cry speed up with a slightly different melody. Those chords, classic arts, they are CGA minor F. It's like the chord sequence around Every Breath You Take is generic.

10:36 It's Stand By Me and it's Slip Sliding Away by Paul Simon. And the lyrics aren't particularly original either. They're straight out of a rhyming dictionary. But somehow there's something quite unique about the song, and I don't know what it is later on in the article we read, but for staying, this song was always personal. It's ostensibly a love song, a very seductive romantic love song, Seeing told Rolling Stone. But it's about controlling somebody to the NTH degree and monitoring their movements.

11:09 Many fans missed the sinister subtext, Sting goes on to say. It's not like Stand By Me, which is this wonderful noble song that means just one thing. Every breath you take is very ambiguous and quite wicked. Oof, yeah, as much as we enjoy the song, I'm honestly glad we didn't choose it to be our wedding song now knowing the deeper meaning behind the song. Just so you know, when I went to do some research about this song, like I typed in the Google search bar is every breath You take and the first populated search suggestion that came up was Is Every Breath You Take about stalking, right?

11:50 Yeah, now that we've covered some of that context, let's talk about the song's connection to Stranger Things. So what particular seasons, episodes, scenes where the song plays? And it may be why we think they chose to use each specific version of the song during those moments. For sure, for sure. So the song first plays in the finale of Season 2 Episode 9, which is called The Gate. While Mike and Elle as well as Lucas and Max are slow dancing at the Hawkins Middle School snowball dance, Nancy is also dancing with Dustin in the scene, which is very sweet.

12:27 Meanwhile, Will is dancing with some rando girl who called him Zombie Boy. So here's a brief snippet from that scene. You're beautiful.

12:42 Do you want to dance? I don't know how I don't either. Do you want to figure it out? The second time it plays is in the finale of Season 4 episode 9 entitled The Piggyback, while Elle is trying to find Max through her memories while Max is hiding from Vecna in her own memory of the snowball dance scene from season 2. An observation here. Love the Season 2 call back in season 4. It's fascinating how the camera zooms in on the record player, and although we the audience can see that it's The Police's 1983 album Synchronicity, Vecna, who seems to have found Max, changes the song so that Dream A Little Dream of Me by Ella Fitzgerald starts playing through the record player instead.

13:36 Makes you wonder why that particular song is so important to Henry, as that's not the first time we see him select that song before attempting to attack someone. So true. Yeah, maybe he just wasn't the biggest fan of the police. Maybe, although I think he would support their violence against one another. I don't know. Yeah.

13:58 Lauren, what was it like hearing Every Breath You Take for the First time? And Stranger Things? Why do you think this song resonates with the audience? I mean, I love this song, so I was absolutely thrilled to hear it and Stranger Things, and while it's definitely creepy, you can't deny it's super catchy as well. There's a reason it's the most played song on the radio. Here is a clip of the Duffers, Sean Levy, Gayton Matarazzo, Sadie Singh and Caleb McLaughlin talking about the song's use in Season 2.

14:30 Yeah, I do want to just use this moment to talk about music for a second because obviously Snowball has some wonderful needle drops, but the whole season does as well. How integral are those song choices in in in the design? A lot of the snowball stuff was written in the script. So which which I mean I think. Police were written. Police every breath you take, right? Mm Hmm. You picked a stalker song? Yeah, well, some find it not creepy. Are you talking about every breath you take? Yeah, it's some do feel some some creepy as hell.

15:01 We did have a. You still don't like our song, Joyce? No, I'm not there. I like the song. Just creepy. I love the song. Well, it's also because it was like the bit. It was huge. It was, I think it was #1 day. And also again, like, like Dig Dug, the idea of I'll be watching you. Given how the season ends and the fact that there is still something watching. Yeah. Nice. Oh wow, that's cool. Everything. So. We need to. Be a little. Not accidental. In an article by Jeff Giles of Diffuser in November of 2017 we read in Beyond Stranger Things, Matarazzo pointed out despite its status as an Evergreen favorite at weddings, it's a creepy song, which caused some to question why it's playing when 11 or Millie Bobby Brown enters the gym and dances with Mike or Finn Wolfhard.

15:54 As Matt Duffer pointed out, Every Breath You Take was one of the songs that was deliberately written into Stranger Things Second season. And as the director Sean Levy quickly interjected to point out, that particular track was chosen not just because it was a huge hit during the era of when the scene takes place, but because of the thematic parallels between the lyrics and the way the show's canvas is arranged. At the end of second Season, although our young heroes have healed the rift between their world and the Upside Down and seemingly vanquished the Mind Flare, he's still out there and he hasn't forgotten who defeated him.

16:34 The idea of I'll be watching you, given how the season ends and the fact that there's still something wrong, Levy said of the song choice. Not accidental. Yeah, it wasn't genius for the Duffers to choose this song. I mean, the song was released in May of 83 and the Snowball was in December of 84. So that song would have been dominating the charts and would have been heard over and over on various radio stations. So it really was true to the era of the time period. But on top of that, the song served dual purpose and provided a Moody, era appropriate soundtrack for the emotional and romantic moments between characters like Mike and 11, while simultaneously signaling that the character's victory was not final and they were still being watched.

17:23 Exactly the song's lyrics, Oh, can't you see You Belong to Me directly under score that final scene of Season 2 where the camera seems to flipped to the upside down, showing that the Mind Flayer is still looming over the school. And the Mind Flayer is meant to represent the dark, dominant stalker who wants ultimate control. Those lyrics represent the fact that he won't stop watching and searching for these kids until his plans and goals to use them are fulfilled. The song's inclusion was aimed at creating an unsettling or ominous feeling, just as the season appeared to be ending on a high note.

18:03 It was also a pretty solid indicator to viewers that we'd likely be getting a third season of Stranger Things, because clearly there's more to the story here. Yeah, or one might say a never. A never ending story. Man, I wonder how Susie Poo's doing. I don't. Know she wasn't in season 5 so like I don't. Know just as a side note, Susie is probably my favorite side character. Yeah, in another side note, Joel was really sad that she wasn't in season 5. Like they just. Break up off screen. Maybe I don't.

18:35 I don't know, I think that's just kind of the assumption, man. Maybe she had to break up with him because he wasn't a Mormon. Oh yeah. Honestly. I mean, yeah, that definitely could have been a, or maybe just because he saw like how crazy the family was, like how all of her siblings were. That's true. And he was already dealing with a lot and so I maybe he just couldn't really envision himself also joining into a chaotic family. I don't know, maybe, but. Yeah, but anyway, to your point, the parallels in the lyrics to the Mind Flayer are crazy.

19:15 One of the lyrics is I feel So cold and I long for your embrace. The Mayan player likes it. Colds definitely checks out. Well, yeah, and we think he likes it cold, but then again, in Season 5, he's living in a desert, so I don't know. Maybe. I don't know. So anyway, except for in Season 5, he's he's apparently in a cozy, comfy, blazing hot desert. Still trying to process that. What about you? What was your reaction to hearing the song and Stranger Things for the first time? And why do you think the lyrics are so repetitive?

19:51 Yeah, yeah, it was just a sweet scene. You have Lucas and Max, they have their first kiss and then I think the lyrics are so repetitive to. Represent the obsessive nature of a stalker. Like from a music production standpoint, I think the repetitiveness is what makes the song so catchy and that contributes to why it was so successful. And like, from a musician standpoint, it's not a hard song to learn or to play. So I think that repetition helps it to be easy to learn and then makes it more successful.

20:33 Oh yeah, totally. Those are some great points. And it begs the question, like, if this song is ominous and meant to be about stalking and asserting control, I'm curious, why do you think it's been used as a love song and wedding since the 80s? That's like what's going on there? That's an interesting question. I wondered the same thing. I'm thinking maybe because there's like a sense of pleading in the chorus where it says like, I long for your embrace, I keep crying, baby, baby, please. Like people may interpret the lyrics in the chorus.

21:11 It's like, oh, I want to be with you kind of thing, which comes across as romantic. The stalker obsessive nature comes in when the all consuming desire to be with someone is not reciprocated, which is fitting because the mind player's obsession with the kids and Hawkins is 1000% not reciprocated. Yeah, for sure. Well, with that in mind, I think it's time we do a deep dive into the actual instrumentalization of the song itself. Yeah, yeah, Every Breath You Take is a pretty minimalistic song. Like when it comes to its instruments, there's not a whole lot of crazy stuff going on.

21:52 It's mainly just your typical like vocals, bass, piano, electric guitar and drums. OK. And I think you mentioned this earlier, I think one of the key things that the song is known for is the arpeggiated guitar. Totally, and not only the lyrics but also the chord sequence is highly repetitive which creates A hypnotic. You've mentioned almost obsessive or watching feel, which it's the lyrical theme for sure. Yeah, for sure. And the song features just a famous chord progressions that's used everywhere.

22:32 Going from the chords, like if you use numbers, it's from A1 to A6 minor to A4 to A5. And yeah, so you have that 1645 progression that's common everywhere, but then it also utilizes A chord that's called an AD 9, where you add the ninth scale degree to the chord, and that is a source of tension. So that offers some tension that almost makes it feel kind of wistful in nature. And then there's this blend of how the major and the minor chords kind of mirrors what we discussed before, where you got the major sound that you know is more happy sounding, more romantic, But then it's blended with those minor chords that give maybe a little bit of eeriness to it.

23:32 And specifically focusing on that eeriness thing, a little nerdy thing as well, is that there's a thing that they'll do in the verses especially. I'll be watching you. Like when it does that, often times it won't end on the one chord, like the dominant chord, OK, The tonic, excuse me, it will end on the minor chord instead, OK. And that's what's called a deceptive cadence. Oh, interesting, the. Idea is that it transitions from the five to the six instead of from the five to the one. OK. And so when that happens, it's called a deceptive cadence because you think that it's going to resolve back to the one chord and it doesn't.

24:23 And so that unexpected way of resolving the verse gives a sense of suspense and almost incompleteness instead of the closure that you would expect. OK, well so that totally ties into the idea that while like in the Season 2 finale scene, it seems like the evil of the Upside Down had been defeated at the end of season 2 since we know Elle had closed the gate. But then the audience gets a glimpse into the reality that they're actually hasn't been that closure. The Mind flare is still lurking over Hawkins, and the battle clearly isn't over yet.

25:03 Yeah, and sure isn't, but it looks like this episode is. Man, again with the smooth transition I try I. Try Thank you all so much for listening. If you've enjoyed listening, give us a review or rating on Spotify or Apple Podcast as this helps us reach other listeners out there in the world. Totally. So our next episode will actually be our final music deep dive in this miniseries, and the focus will be on the song You Don't Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce. If you have any thoughts about that song or how it was utilized throughout Stranger Things, we'd love to hear from you.

25:40 You can contact us at at [email protected] or on Instagram at our handle Camp Nowhere Pod. Thank you all so much again and we'll catch you on the next one. See you all, bye.