Peak
32
Weeks
13
Score
1,284
Chart Year
1979
This song is about a man who falls in love with a prostitute and gets all Pretty Woman on her, telling her she deserves better and should find a more decent profession. Sting got the idea after walking through the red-light district of Paris when the band was in town to play a club called The Nashville, where he saw prostitutes for the first time. He imagined what it would be like to fall in love with one of them, figuring some of them must have boyfriends. This was the first major-label release by The Police, who were struggling at the time. A year earlier, they released the single "Fall Out" on an independent label owned by Stewart Copeland's brother (and the band's manager), Miles. It was a flop, and the group felt a lot of pressure to produce something that would keep them off the dole. When they convened at Surrey Sound Studios outside of London in January 1978, it was with a new guitarist, Andy Summers, as original member Henry Padovani quit the band. They recorded "Roxanne" with producer Nigel Gray, who owned the studio. Sting liked the song but didn't think it would be a hit, as it was far more brooding than their other material. Miles Copeland thought differently - he was far more impressed with "Roxanne" than with anything else they recorded at those sessions, and insisted it be the single. Miles got a distribution deal for the song with A&M Records, getting no advance, only royalties from sales. The song was released in the UK on April 7, 1978, but didn't garner much attention. It was also largely ignored in the US when it was released there on February 24, 1979, but The Police soldiered on with a tour of America anyway. When a disc jockey in Austin stared playing the song, it got a great response and other radio stations added it to their playlists. The song became a minor hit, peaking at #32 on April 28. It also got some attention in the UK around this time, peaking at #12 on May 19, 1979, over a year after it was first released. The intro to the song contains one of the great happy accidents in rock history. There was an upright piano in the studio, which Sting sat on thinking the lid was closed. Tape was rolling for his vocal, so the sound of his butt hitting the piano and his subsequent laughter were recorded. These sounds were mixed into the intro, providing a unique texture. Sting chose the name Roxanne when, after watching the prostitutes in Paris, he spotted a poster for the play Cyrano de Bergerac. The title character, a swordsman of great wit with an enormous nose, is in love with a woman named Roxanne but afraid to approach her directly, worried his schnoz will turn her away. "Those two conflicting ideas - of this beautiful name and this very, very elegant, courtly romance and what was going on in the hotel - just lit a torch under me," he told People in 2023. "I went to my room, picked up the guitar and imagined this woman into life." Police guitarist Andy Summers made a key contribution to this song. In a Songfacts interview with Summers, he explained: "'Roxanne' is so identified by that guitar at the beginning - the first verse before he starts singing. It's immediately identifiable." The Police performed this when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. With the exception of a drunken jam at Sting's wedding in 1992, it was the first time they played together since they broke up in 1986 over personal differences. At the ceremony, guitarist Andy Summers joked, "I'd like to make it very clear that there is no ego in our band whatsoever." The beat on this song is a classic fusion of rock and reggae, but Sting considers is more of a tango. In 1987, Steve Martin and Daryl Hannah starred in the movie Roxanne, which is based on the Cyrano DeBergerac story of a dramatist with a big nose who falls for a beautiful woman. The song was not used in the film. The BBC didn't play this song, so The Police spread the word that it was banned from the network because of its subject matter, a story that helped build their reputation as punk rock revolutionaries. What was it like for The Police having their first hit be a song about a prostitute? Drummer Stewart Copeland told Songfacts: "To the extent that there was cause for concern would be the extent to which we got a thrill from it. We were a punk band, officially. That was our mission, that was our purpose." Sting performs this at most of his concerts, as it's one of his favorites and it always gets a great audience response. He played it at Live Aid in 1985. In the 1982 movie 48 Hours, Eddie Murphy sings a very off-key version of the song in a jail cell. This song is the basis for a popular drinking game of the same title: men drink when it says "Roxanne," women drink when it says "Red Light." >> The band made a video for this song, but there's no Roxanne in it. Directed by Derek Burbidge, it shows performance footage. When The Police reunited in 2007, their first public performance came at the Grammy Awards, where they played this to open the show. A version by San Francisco singer-songwriter Juliet Simms debuted at #86 on the Hot 100 in April 2012 after she performed the song on the reality music show The Voice. The original sheet of lyrics for this song is decorated with Sting's random doodles, most dealing with the passage of time. They are "three clocks - one at five to four, another at ten past six, and one sidelong that looks to be showing eight o'clock - a sundial, an hourglass, five sets of five-bar gates that prisoners use to mark the passing of days, some kind of whirlwind vortex spinning in the top right-hand corner, and a spear or an arrowhead. I imagine I was drawing these as I was listening back to various takes of the vocals, but I don't know what they mean," Sting wrote in Lyrics By Sting. (These illustrations can be seen on the back cover of the book). "I sing 'Roxanne' every night," Sting told Daniel Rachel for the 2013 book The Art of Noise: Conversations with Great Songwriters. "There's always a little inflection that is new or a possibility that opens it out. It's not my job to reproduce a record that was made thirty years ago. I use that and I respect that, but it's only a template. It's that jazz mentality. You use the head of the song just as a starting point." A remake of this song was featured in the 2001 movie Moulin Rouge. Christian (Ewan McGregor) sings this about Satine (Nicole Kidman) when he becomes enraged in a fit of jealousy. And guess what? They made it into a tango, so this song can no longer be mistaken for a reggae beat... Sting must be very proud. >> On the 2001 Friends episode "The One With Monica's Boots," Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) and Ross (David Schwimmer) sing this as "Ross-Can" as he tries to secure tickets to a Sting concert. The song also shows up in these TV series: Raising Hope ("The Old Girl" – 2013) Community ("Remedial Chaos Theory" – 2011) Two And A Half Men ("Winky-Dink Time" – 2008) The Office ("Phyllis' Wedding" – 2007) Big Love ("A Barbecue For Betty" – 2006) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Random Acts Of Violence" – 2003)
Roxanne You don't have to put on the red light Those days are over You don't have to sell your body to the night Roxanne You don't have to wear that dress tonight Walk the streets for money You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right Roxanne You don't have to put on the red light Roxanne You don't have to put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light Oh I loved you since I knew ya I wouldn't talk down to ya I have to tell you just how I feel I won't share you with another boy I know my mind is made up So put away your make-up Told you once, I won't tell you again it's a bad way Roxanne You don't have to put on the red light Roxanne You don't have to put on the red light You don't (Roxanne) have to put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light You don't (Roxanne) have to put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light You don't (Roxanne) have to put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light (Roxanne) Put on the red light
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 24, 1979 | 82 | 44 |
| 2 | Mar 3, 1979 | 75 | 51 |
| 3 | Mar 10, 1979 | 65 | 61 |
| 4 | Mar 17, 1979 | 59 | 67 |
| 5 | Mar 24, 1979 | 53 | 73 |
| 6 | Mar 31, 1979 | 46 | 80 |
| 7 | Apr 7, 1979 | 40 | 86 |
| 8 | Apr 14, 1979 | 36 | 90 |
| 9 | Apr 21, 1979 | 34 | 92 |
| 10 | Apr 28, 1979 | 32 | 94 |
| 11 | May 5, 1979 | 32 | 94 |
| 12 | May 12, 1979 | 78 | 48 |
| 13 | May 19, 1979 | 91 | 35 |