Every Breath You Take

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Written by: Sting
Produced by: Hugh Padgham
Released: May '83 on A&M
Charts: 22 weeks
Top spot: No. 1

For their biggest hit, the Police went back to basics, even junking an elaborate synth part that distracted from the song's hypnotic bass line. Sting admitted that the lyrics -- which sounded tender but were actually bitter -- were pulled from the rock & roll cliche handbook. " 'Every Breath You Take' is an archetypal song," he told ROLLING STONE. "If you have a major chord followed by a relative minor, you're not original." Following Sting's unoriginal-and-proud manifesto, Puff Daddy would sample "Breath" extensively fourteen years later for his own huge hit, "I'll Be Missing You."

Appears on: Synchronicity (Interscope)

Next: Crazy

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