Every Breath You Take
The Police
1983
Annual listening-list association, not an original-release-date field. Original release year reconciled with reviewed recording-specific Artist Essentials evidence in v3.6.
Release: 1983
Release: 1983Source checked
V3.6 reconciles the original release year with the reviewed Artist Essentials entry for this exact retained recording ID. Year precision is used; an album-first release is not silently replaced by a later single, reissue or annual-list year. The original Police studio recording belongs to the documented 1983 single and album release cycle. Year precision is used; no album day is assigned to an earlier single.
The large badge identifies this listening list, not a newly issued recording. Later reissues and renewed chart popularity do not replace an original release date. How years are assigned.
Owner-supplied release annotations
Reported dates in 1983.html. Not independently established; neighboring dates can reflect album/single or regional differences.
Every Breath You Take single - official discography
Original Police single and Murder by Numbers B-side. The original recording year is corroborated by the 1983 studio-album scope; this page is not treated as an exact date source.
Synchronicity - official Sting/Police album archive
Original album tracklist and studio recording discussion, read in the public discography body. The official studio index separately supports 1983.
The Police - official studio catalog and original years
The original five albums are explicitly dated 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981 and 1983. Their original tracklists are separated from the 2018 box and later bonus disc. Names the trio and describes its punk and reggae vocabulary.
Former annual assignments retained as history
These appearances were removed from the main annual lists. They are not original release dates.
- 2025: older return
Inspiration and background
Documented songwriting inspiration
Sting wrote the song while staying in Jamaica. He has described its apparent tenderness as deceptive: its narrator is possessive, concerned with watching and controlling another person. It should not be classified as a straightforward wedding promise simply because listeners sometimes hear it that way.
Evidence scope: Reviewed secondary account; scope is limited to this paragraph
Sources for this information
Every Breath You Take - reviewed composition/background
Background/composition section; paraphrased, not a quotation | Retrieved 2026-10-11
Other appearances and versions
catalog version unspecified
Textual identity reconciliation, not audio-fingerprint or exact-pressing verification. Version labels are catalog safeguards.
An annual chart year and an original release date are different. Similar titles may be covers or different masters; no audio fingerprint has been performed.
Sources and scope
Source-backed annual association (secondary source; not a complete discographic review)
Song-specific genre labels located in the cited catalog or secondary source; genre is not a universally fixed classification.
Billboard year-end 1983 table (Wikipedia transcription)
Secondary chart transcription reviewed for title, artist and annual association. Not proof of release date, genre or inspiration.
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