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Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

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"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
Single by the Police
from the album Ghost in the Machine
B-side
  • "Flexible Strategies" (UK)
  • "Shambelle" (US)
Released16 October 1981[1]
Recorded1981
Studio
GenreNew wave, reggae rock, sophisti-pop
Length4:22
LabelA&M – AMS 8174
Songwriter(s)Sting
Producer(s)
The Police singles chronology
"Invisible Sun"
(1981) 		"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
(1981) 		"Spirits in the Material World"
(1981)
Alternative cover
US 7-inch cover
Audio sample
Music video
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" on YouTube

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a song by the British rock band the Police from their fourth studio album, Ghost in the Machine (1981). It was a hit single that reached the top of the charts in the United Kingdom in November 1981[2] and hit No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.[3] The song, unusual for including Jean Alain Roussel, a guest keyboardist, dates back to a demo recorded by bassist and lead singer Sting in the house of Mike Howlett in the autumn of 1976. The song has been described as new wave blended with reggae elements—the signature Police style. The popularity of "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" helped to make Ghost in the Machine one of the Police's most successful albums.

Composition

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Written in standard 4
4 time, "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" sets up a tension between the keys of D major and D minor, with the bass line rising up a lydian scale, including portions of the song with no recognisable key. It ultimately resolves to D major, signifying the excitement of romance.[4]

The song is characterised as new wave,[5] with elements of reggae. Sting evokes a reggae feel by emphasising his bass guitar parts at the beats of four and one in the chorus,[6] and Stewart Copeland's drumming has reggae flourishes. The chiming notes of Caribbean steel drums are heard at the chorus.[4] Unlike other Police songs, it features an arrangement dominated by piano and synthesisers. The lyrics concern unrequited love, telling the story of a hapless romantic who has attempted to pursue a romantic interest for a long period of time, but is too afraid to do so.[7]

Background

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Although the song was recorded in 1981, Sting wrote it in early 1977 around the time of the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, prior to the formation of the Police.[8][9] An early demo of the song can be heard on the Strontium 90 studio album Strontium 90: Police Academy (1997), which Sting recorded entirely by himself while the song was still fresh in his mind (according to Mike Howlett), using equipment in the loft of Howlett's home in Acton, London which included an acoustic guitar, a bass guitar, an African drum, a TEAC 4-track recorder and some cheap microphones. For Howlett, this demo is "a powerful testimony to the raw, undiluted talent that is Sting".[10] The recording was made prior to the launch of the Portastudio in the late 1970s, which Sting would later use for writing and demoing songs for the Police.[11] A second demo was recorded in January 1981 at Le Studio in Morin Heights, Canada, with Nick Blagona engineering:[12]

This was first recorded as a demo, with the piano figure, in a studio in Montreal. I had written the song long before the Police were successful, but it seemed a bit soft for the band at first. But the demo was really great. It sounded like a No 1 song to me. I took it to the band, who were reticent, still thinking it was soft. I was saying, "But listen, it's a hit." We tried to do it from scratch as the Police, but it didn't have the same energy as the demo. After a degree of hair-pulling and torturing on my part, I got the band to play over the top of my demo.

— Sting, The Independent, September 1993[13]

Session keyboardist Jean Roussel was invited to play on the demo, to which he overdubbed multiple layers of piano, Minimoog synthesizer and clavinet. At the time, according to Roussel, Sting was considering using the song for a potential solo project before he decided to do the song with the Police.[14] Sting later flew Roussel over to help re-record the track against the wishes of his bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland while they were recording the Ghost in the Machine album at AIR Studios, Montserrat.[15] Summers did not approve of Roussel's inclusion in the track, stating that he was "incredibly pushy" and that "there wasn't room for him. He must have played 12 piano parts on that song alone."[16] Copeland, however, said that Roussel "wasn't pushy ... He was just like us actually."[16]

Feeling that the arrangement of the track was not enough like the Police style, Summers (who recalled, "as the guitar player I was saying, 'What the f**k is this? This is not the Police sound'") and the band tried to "Police-ify" the track by attempting different arrangements and styles, but none of them clicked.[16][17] However, as Copeland remembers, the remaining two members of the band had to overdub onto Sting’s demo in the end:

"I remember saying, 'Okay put up Sting's original demo and I'll show you how crummy it is.' So Sting stood over me and waved me through all the changes. I did just one take, and that became the record. Then Andy did the same thing on the guitar. We just faced the music, bit the bullet, and used Sting's arrangements and demo. Damn."[16]

— Stewart Copeland, Revolver, 2000

In the chorus, Sting, not knowing any other word which would rhyme with "magic," used the word "tragic." Copeland said of this moment, "I remember Sting for years trying to think of a rhyme for 'magic', as in 'Every Little Things She Does Is Magic.' I think the only word he could come up with, apart from 'tragic', was 'pelagic', which means 'ocean going'. There I was in my leather pants and punk hairdo, pondering the distinction between ocean-going and river-going fish."[16]

Release and critical reception

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"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was released as the second single from Ghost in the Machine in UK and Ireland, while in most other parts of the world it was the debut single from the album. The song outperformed its predecessor in Britain, where it topped the charts. The song also hit No. 1 in Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands, No. 2 in Australia, and No. 5 in Norway. It reached No. 3 in America, making it and "King of Pain" the band's second-best-performing single there, after its No. 1 hit "Every Breath You Take".

The lyrics of the second verse, "Do I have to tell the story / Of a thousand rainy days since we first met? / It's a big enough umbrella / But it's always me that ends up getting wet," were reprised by Sting at the end of the song "O My God" issued on the band's next studio album. These lyrics were repeated once more in "Seven Days" on Sting's fourth solo studio album Ten Summoner's Tales (1993).[18] He later re-recorded the song in an orchestral version for his tenth studio album Symphonicities (2010).

Record World said that "There's urgency here that demands repeated listening."[19] The song received a positive retrospective review from AllMusic journalist Chris True, who praised the lyrics and described the song as "pop brilliance".[7] Ultimate Classic Rock critic Mike Duquette rated the song as the Police's 4th best, calling it "a heart-pounding love song for the ages."[20]

The song's B-side, "Flexible Strategies", was reportedly an improvised jam that was created in response to the record company's demand for a B-side. Stewart Copeland said, "Word came down from the marketing machine 'Create a B-side – today! We walked over to the gear, strapped on, and played for ten minutes. A disgrace."[13][21]

Personnel

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Track listing

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7-inch: A&M / AMS 8174 (UK)

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  1. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" – 3:58
  2. "Flexible Strategies" – 3:44

7-inch: A&M / AMS 9170 (NL)

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  1. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" – 4:05
  2. "Shambelle" – 5:10

7-inch: A&M / 2371-S (US)

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  1. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" – 3:58
  2. "Shambelle" – 5:06

Chart performance

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[47] Gold 30,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[48] Platinum 600,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "BPI".
  2. ^ UK Singles Charts for the week of 14 November 1981, The Official Charts.
  3. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 497.
  4. ^ a b Gable, Christopher (2008). The Words and Music of Sting. Bloomsbury. pp. 11–12. ISBN 9781573567299.
  5. ^ Perone, James E. (2018). Listen to New Wave Rock!: Exploring a Musical Genre. Bloomsbury. p. 183. ISBN 9798216111962.
  6. ^ Chris Jisi, ed. (2008). Bass Player Presents The Fretless Bass. Hal Leonard. p. 21. ISBN 9781617133770.
  7. ^ a b Chris True. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic – The Police | Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  8. ^ Lyrics by Sting, The Dial Press, 2007, page 56.
  9. ^ VH1 Storytellers Season 1 Episode 5: Sting (July 15, 1996)
  10. ^ Howlett, Mike (1997). Strontium 90: Police Academy (Media notes). pp. 3–4.
  11. ^ Jools Holland (1981). The Police In Montserrat. Archived from the original on 16 October 2020.
  12. ^ "Interview With Nick Blagona". arpjournal.com. July 2011.
  13. ^ a b "'Every Little Thing She Does' / 'Flexible Strategies'". thepolice.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  14. ^ Campion, Chris (2009). Walking on the Moon: The Untold Story of The Police. London: Aurum. p. 163. ISBN 9781845135751.
  15. ^ Summers, Andy (2007). One Train Later, 1st Edition (St. Martin's Griffin), page 294.
  16. ^ a b c d e Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000). "I think if we came back..." Archived 30 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Revolver.
  17. ^ Bosso, Joe (22 July 2012). "Stewart Copeland on recording Police hits, soundtracks, Tama Drums and more".
  18. ^ Gabel, Christopher R. (2008). The Words and Music of Sting. ABC-CLIO. p. 71. ISBN 9781573567299. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
  19. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 26 September 1981. p. 1. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  20. ^ Duquette, Mike (6 May 2022). "All 70 Police Songs Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  21. ^ The Police Message in a Box booklet Page 58.
  22. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 235. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  23. ^ "The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  24. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0411." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  25. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
  26. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". Irish Singles Chart.
  27. ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2022. Select "Singoli" in the "Tipo" field, type "Police" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
  28. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 45, 1981" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  29. ^ "The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  30. ^ "The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  31. ^ "The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". VG-lista. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  32. ^ "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  33. ^ "Police: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  34. ^ "The Police Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  35. ^ "Top 100 1981-12-12". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  36. ^ "The Police Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard.
  37. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  38. ^ "National Top 100 Singles for 1981". Kent Music Report. 4 January 1982. p. 7. Retrieved 11 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  39. ^ Steffen Hung. "Forum - Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts - 1980s (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  40. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1981". Ultratop. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  41. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  42. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1981". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 5 August 2021.
  43. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1981" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  44. ^ "Chart File Top 100" (PDF). Record Mirror. London: Spotlight Publications. 26 December 1981. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  45. ^ "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1981". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 18 September 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  46. ^ "Top 100 Hits of 1982/Top 100 Songs of 1982". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  47. ^ "Spanish single certifications – The Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". El portal de Música. Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  48. ^ "British single certifications – Police – Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
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