Tonight’s song is one of the most played songs in the world. People choose it for weddings. And the man who wrote it says that is a mistake.
Learn from Songs · Unit 4: The future · B1–B2
Every Breath You Take
A famous song that sounds like a love song but isn’t: the future continuous (I’ll be waiting, he’ll be watching), every + singular noun, and how to tell the difference between care and control, with Demetria, and a friend whose admirer follows her everywhere.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Why?
SOPHIA
Because it isn’t about love. It’s about someone who can’t stop watching another person. Listen to the words, not just the music.
MARCOS
Sting again! The Englishman in New York!
Before you listen: the song
Jamaica and Montserrat, 1983
The Police were a British band of three: Sting on bass and vocals, Andy Summers on guitar, and Stewart Copeland on drums. “Every Breath You Take” comes from their last album, Synchronicity (1983). It was number one in the USA for eight weeks and won the Grammy for Song of the Year.
Sting wrote it in Jamaica, at a difficult time in his life, when his first marriage was ending. He has said many times that it is a sinister song about jealousy, possession and surveillance, and that he was surprised when people treated it as romantic.
In the song, the singer tells someone who has left him that he will be watching them, all the time, whatever they do, wherever they go. The music is soft and beautiful. The words are not.
The black-and-white video, directed by Godley & Creme, has been watched more than a billion times on YouTube.
Love lets go. Control holds on.
Listen: love song or not?
PHILO
Listen once, just to the music. How does it make you feel? Then listen to the words. Does your feeling change?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
👁️ Listen to the song: “Every Breath You Take” (Sting, The Police, 1983).Watch the official video →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Every Breath You Take”, The Police.Read the lyrics →
The future continuous
DEMETRIA
I’ll be waiting for you. This time tomorrow we’ll be flying to Rome.
SOPHIA
will be + -ing for an action that will be in progress at a moment in the future: At eight o’clock I’ll be having dinner. It’s also a polite way to ask about plans: Will you be using the car tonight? Negative: won’t be + -ing.
Every + singular
MARCOS
Every day, every word, every place… always singular!
SOPHIA
every + singular noun + singular verb: Every student has a book. Every day is different. Compare all + plural: All students have books. And each = every one, considered separately.
Care or control?
PHILO
Words for this: jealous, possessive, controlling, to keep an eye on, to spy on, to trust, to let go.
SOPHIA
Someone who cares about you wants you to be free and happy. Someone who wants to control you wants to know everything, all the time. It’s important to recognise the difference, and to talk to someone you trust if you’re worried.
Sophia’s comparison: Argus with a hundred eyes
SOPHIA
Hera was jealous of Zeus, so she set Argus, a giant with a hundred eyes, to watch the maiden Io day and night. Some of his eyes were always open.
PHILO
And what happened to Argus?
SOPHIA
Hermes lulled him to sleep with music and stories, and every eye closed. Hera put his hundred eyes on the tail of the peacock.
DEMETRIA
So music defeated the watcher. I like that.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| will be + -ing | action in progress at a future time | This time tomorrow I’ll be flying. |
| Will you be + -ing? | polite question about plans | Will you be coming tonight? |
| won’t be + -ing | negative | I won’t be waiting any more. |
| every + singular noun | each one of a group | every day, every word |
| jealous, possessive, controlling, trust | talking about relationships | Real love is based on trust. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. How does the music sound?
2. What is the song really about?
3. What did Sting say about it?
4. Where did Sting write it?
5. How long was it number one in the USA?
6. What is the lesson of the song?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. This time tomorrow I’ll flying to Rome. (be)
8. At eight o’clock we’ll be dinner. (have)
9. you be using the car tonight? (polite question)
10. Every student a book. (have)
11. Real love is based trust.
12. I be waiting any more. (negative)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Every students have a book.”
14. “This time next week I’ll be lying on a beach.”
15. “I will be wait for you at the station.”
16. “Will you be coming to the party?”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
This time tomorrow. Say what you’ll be doing at different times tomorrow: At 8 I’ll be…, at midday I’ll be… Then guess what your partner will be doing.
Discuss. 1. Why do you think so many people think this is a love song? 2. What is the difference between caring and controlling? 3. Can you think of other songs whose words and music don’t match?
Write (100–120 words). Advice to a friend. A friend’s new boyfriend or girlfriend wants to know where they are all the time. Write a kind, sensible message of advice.
Now play the gamebook: Demetria helps her friend Nikandra.Play the gamebook →