My Gen X Playlist: Every Breath You Take – The Police

My wife colored her hair at home for the first time. We’ve had numerous conversations (well, maybe her talking about it and more me just listening) about her being nervous about experiencing a potential catastrophe her first time around. It took months, but she finally mustered up the nerve and did it. It looks great. Since then my phone is flooded with ads about hair color products.

We learned my wife’s former colleague is now a home decor influencer. We were talking about how successful she’s become because she’s amassed over a million followers. I’ve never seen her Instagram until last week when the algorithms randomly (yeah right) decided to send me ads about her IG page.

I recently asked ChatGPT a question. I was a little unnerved by its reply. The response started out by addressing me by my first name. What the hell?

Even though I’ve never turned Siri on before, I know she’s still listening. She just lurks in the shadows with an ear trumpet, listening to all conversations within ear shot. Even though I’ve always known this, it’s been easy to put my head in the sand, not think about it and just play along. And now there’s ChatGPT hanging around. My god, when it called me by my first name, that crossed the line. Now I feel . . . icky.

I don’t like the idea of someone (or something) lurking in the background. That made me think about The Police’s Every Breath You Take. Spoiler alert – it’s not a love song.

This is one of the most misinterpreted songs ever. It is about an obsessive stalker, but it sounds like a love song. Some people even used it as their wedding song. The Police frontman Sting wrote it after separating from his first wife, Frances Tomelty.

“I enjoy that ambiguity. I watched Andy Gibb singing it with some girl on TV a couple of weeks ago, very loving, and totally misinterpreting it. (Laughter) I could still hear the words, which aren’t about love at all. I pissed myself laughing.”

Songfacts

If I’m being honest, I’ve already resigned that there’s no stopping this no matter how many precautionary steps I take. Some dude inside my iPhone will always be creeping about. I’ll just flip my mental switch, like this TikTok dance that keeps showing up on my Instagram. This is a lot more fun to think about.

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For a complete playlist, please click here.

For the Spotify playlist, please click here.

Every breath you take and every move you make
Every bond you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you
Every single day and every word you say
Every game you play, every night you stay, I'll be watching you

Oh, can't you see you belong to me?
How my poor heart aches with every step you take

Every move you make, and every vow you break
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake, I'll be watching you

Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace
I dream at night, I can only see your face
I look around but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying, "Baby, baby, please"

Oh, can't you see you belong to me?
How my poor heart aches with every step you take

Every move you make and every vow you break