# In 1981, The Police thought Sting’s new song was too soft. Now, it has over 600,000,000 streams

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1981-the-police-thought-stings-new-song-was-too-soft-now-it-has-over-600000000-streams/
- Published: 2026-11-03T09:19:50+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-03T10:41:24+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1981-the-police-thought-stings-new-song-was-too-soft/
- Topics: Entertainment, Music

## Key points

- The Police considered Sting’s song too soft.
- Sting’s demo formed the basis of the released track.
- It reached number one in Britain and passed 600 million streams.

## Summary

The Police initially thought Sting’s ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’ was too soft, but he believed its polished, piano-led sound would make it a hit. Their disagreement over how much the band should reshape his demo reflects tensions within the group as each member worked more independently on the album *Ghost in the Machine*.

Sting had written the song in 1977 and developed the demo with Jean Roussel; the band later played over that recording for the released version. The song reached number one in Britain and has since passed 600 million Spotify streams. Its gentle melody contrasts with lyrics about a narrator struggling to express his love, a tension that may have helped the song endure.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.