-
Play on Mog
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
-
Play on Spotify
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
-
Play on Rdio
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
-
Play on Hype Machine
Yes, it scrobbles! Learn more
About This Track
Roxanne is a hit song by the rock band The Police, first released in 1978 as a single and on their album Outlandos d’Amour. It was written about a prostitute in southern France.
Police lead singer Sting wrote the song, inspired by the prostitutes he saw near the band’s seedy hotel while in Paris, France in October 1977 to perform at the Nashville Club. The title of the song comes from the name of the character in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, an old poster of which was hanging in the hotel foyer.
Sting had originally conceived the song as a bossa nova, although he credits Police drummer Stewart Copeland for suggesting its final rhythmic form as a tango. During recording, Sting accidentally sat down on a piano keyboard in the studio, resulting in the atonal piano chord and laughter preserved at the beginning of the track. The Police were initially diffident about the song, but Miles Copeland III was immediately enthusiastic after hearing it, becoming their manager and getting them their first record deal with A&M Records. The single did not chart at first, but it was re-released in April 1979 and reached #12 in the UK and #32 in the U.S., and went on to become one of the classic Police songs as well as a staple of Sting’s performances during his solo career. Roxanne has appeared on every single one of The Police’s Greatest hits albums.
Rolling Stone ranked it #388 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Police lead singer Sting wrote the song, inspired by the prostitutes he saw near the band’s seedy hotel while in Paris, France in October 1977 to perform at the Nashville Club. The title of the song comes from the name of the character in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, an old poster of which was hanging in the hotel foyer.
Sting had originally conceived the song as a bossa nova, although he credits Police drummer Stewart Copeland for suggesting its final rhythmic form as a tango. During recording, Sting accidentally sat down on a piano keyboard in the studio, resulting in the atonal piano chord and laughter preserved at the beginning of the track. The Police were initially diffident about the song, but Miles Copeland III was immediately enthusiastic after hearing it, becoming their manager and getting them their first record deal with A&M Records. The single did not chart at first, but it was re-released in April 1979 and reached #12 in the UK and #32 in the U.S., and went on to become one of the classic Police songs as well as a staple of Sting’s performances during his solo career. Roxanne has appeared on every single one of The Police’s Greatest hits albums.
Rolling Stone ranked it #388 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Send Ringtones to Cell Similar Music
Play The Police RadioWith: Strontium 90, Sting, Peter Gabriel, The Cars and more…
People who listen to this also like
| Track | Duration | Listeners | ||
| The Police - Can't Stand Losing You | 3:00 | 310,013 | ||
|
|
The Police - So Lonely | 4:52 | 254,393 | |
|
|
Sting - Englishman In New York | 4:27 | 277,600 | |
| Dire Straits - Sultans Of Swing | 5:45 | 624,018 | ||
| Dire Straits - Money For Nothing | 8:25 | 491,872 | ||
| Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight | 5:31 | 408,307 |
Albums featuring this track
-
The Very Best Of Sting And The Police
Sting
Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $9.49
- 7digital Search
- iTunes $11.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $4.95
- eBay Search
-
Message In A Box
The Police Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 $36.12
- 7digital $38.99
- iTunes $39.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon $38.99
- eBay Search
-
Greatest Hits
The Police Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes Search
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
-
The Very Best Of Sting And The Police
The Police Buy- Download Album
- Amazon MP3 Search
- 7digital Search
- iTunes $11.99
- Buy Album
- Amazon Search
- eBay Search
Shouts
-
cgovier280 wrote:
crap
-
DaJuWi wrote:
the version with gil evans is awesome, too
-
TheLegend72 wrote:
I am not keen on songs about a girl with her name as the title (don't ask me why) but this is one of the very few that I actually do like.
-
beastatharlot wrote:
Love this song.
-
tartonka wrote:
great song... masterpiece
-
wigan_ wrote:
ROOOOXAne. thank u community
-
theviperchick wrote:
♥
-
pazz_rus wrote:
"ROOOOOOX-" "No." [14]
-
xtwntraphq wrote:
A Classic tune. A Classic band.
-
Kwas91 wrote:
"ROOOOOOX-" "No." [13]
-
encil wrote:
<3
-
ravenclaw94 wrote:
"You don't have to put on the red light" Next line: "Put on the red light." Make up your mind.
-
gleeh0rt0n wrote:
Isn't it odd, that the same band wrote the best song about prostitution and stalking? Or was every breath you take just sting? i cant remember.
-
cookiemischief8 wrote:
"ROOOOOOX-" "No." [12].
-
jay516 wrote:
Since this song was on community, I have not been able to get it out of my head.
-
encil wrote:
<3
-
fredbed57 wrote:
Thanks for the reunion in 2007-8 pricey though. Caught them 3 times...
-
elitescorpios wrote:
"ROOOOOOX-" "No." [11]. I couldn't resist.
-
ObmujSon wrote:
:-)
-
NoSo101 wrote:
Good one. (There was someone on "The Voice of Germany" who sang this song very close to the original.)
Track Stats
2,559,144 Scrobbles
553,588 Listeners
Recent Listening Trend
Listening Now
Top Listeners
-
Biaxx
Top Listener
-
kktkopf
Top Listener
-
Yuffie_
Top Listener
-
NeoDiabolos
Top Listener
Recent Activity
-
konrad839393, antua8 and CutterCat loved The Police – Roxanne. 23 minutes ago
-
moyocharlotte added Roxanne to moyocharlotte’s library. 15 hours ago
-
Acide-Cake, sicksk8, MadMatzinger84 and 9 other people loved The Police – Roxanne. yesterday evening
-
santiago-davila added Roxanne to the playlist Random. Thursday evening
-
santiago-davila and Erna_Eltzner loved The Police – Roxanne. Thursday evening
-
mitchenigma and ameliebelle1 added The Police – Roxanne to their libraries. Thursday evening
-
NOSPoloR32, Paravati, jimbo_888 and 14 other people loved The Police – Roxanne. Thursday afternoon
-
Erivelton1988 added Roxanne to the playlist. Wednesday afternoon
-
Erivelton1988, czarnuci and LauraxXxXx loved The Police – Roxanne. Wednesday afternoon
-
fpiedade added Roxanne to the playlist ao meu ritmo. Wednesday morning
Related Journals
-
300 songs before you go deaf
by spree0220 |
30 Nov 2011
| 10 comments
-
Cutzy's Top 100 Songs (7/11/2011)
by Cutzy |
7 Nov 2011
-
Hot 'n' Sweaty Hits
by Forkinator |
8 Sep 2011
| 1 comment
