Walking On The Moon (song)

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"Walking on the Moon"
Single cover art for Walking on the Moon (song)
Recorded by The Police
Released: 1979-11-23
Recorded: summer of 1979
Length: 5:02
Album: Reggatta de Blanc
Label(s): A&M
Writer(s): Sting
Producer(s): Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers, Nigel Gray
Studio(s): Surrey Sound Studios
Released as single? Yes

About the song

Sting wrote the song when he was lying drunk in a hotel room in Munich, Germany. In "The Independent" from September 16, 1993 he mentions that he had done a TV show with The Police, so it was probably the night after 1979-05-29. He had the bass line in mind and started walking around the room, which led to the song's "original" title "Walking Round The Room."

Stewart Copeland mentioned that this song started as a rocker. The famous guitar chord was Andy's contribution. According to engineer Chris Gray they had a Scamp rack [S24 ADT] at Surrey Sound Studios: "It’s modules of processors. You get different ones that fit into the racks (echoes and flangers) and there was one in particular that was a sort of phaser/chorus/flanger/close echo/double-tracking module. When those guitar chords come in on Walking On The Moon, that is purely the sound of that Scamp rack. They used that one a lot."

There are several versions that are way longer than the LP track. A 7:15 minute version is basically the same as the one on the LP, but it offers another chorus and different improvised vocal chants in the coda. This longer mix doesn't yet feature the Roland GR-500 guitar synthesizer that produces the bubbling sounds. You can hear much clearer that the famous bass notes are also played by a piano.

If you think 7:15 minutes are quite long: there's also another extended version that lasts 8:51 minutes ! This version features a 2 minute Andy Summers guitar solo over a late bridge and Sting's and Stewart's vocal variations.

Personnel

Ads

This ad was printed in Record Mirror and NME (November 24, 1979):1979 11 24 tourad.jpg

Release History

Albums

"Walking on the Moon" appears on the following album releases:

Cover art Album title Release date Release country
Police-album-reggattadeblanc.jpg Reggatta de Blanc 1979-10-02 United Kingdom
Police-album-everybreathyoutakethesingles.jpg Every Breath You Take: The Singles 1986 United Kingdom
Police-album-greatesthits.jpg Greatest Hits 1992-10-02 United Kingdom
Police-album-messageinaboxthecompleterecordings.jpg Message In A Box: The Complete Recordings 1993-09-30 United Kingdom
Police-album-live!.jpg The Police Live! 1995-06-13 United Kingdom
Police-album-everybreathyoutaketheclassics.jpg Every Breath You Take: The Classics 1995-09-12 United States
Police-album-thepolice.jpg The Police 2007-06-11 United States

Singles

"Walking on the Moon" was released both as a 7" single and a 12" single and also as part of the Six Pack.

7" Singles

Cover art Catalog no. A-side song/B-side song Release date Release country
Walkingonthemoon.jpg AMS 7494 "Walking on the Moon"/"Visions of the Night" 1979-11-23 United Kingdom
Sixpack.jpg A&M P66001C "Walking on the Moon"/"Visions of the Night" 1980-05-01 United Kingdom

12" Singles

Cover art Catalog no. A-side song(s)/B-side song(s) Release date Release country
Walkingonthemoon.jpg AMSP 7494 "Walking on the Moon"/"Visions of the Night" 1979-11-23 United Kingdom
Radiosample.jpg SAMP 5 "The Bed's Too Big Without You"/"So Lonely"/"Can't Stand Losing You"/"Roxanne"/"Message In A Bottle"/"Walking On The Moon" 1980-MM-DD UK

Video

"Walking on the Moon" appears on the following video releases:

Cover art Video title Release date Release country
Police-aroundtheworld.jpg Around the World 1983-02-01 United Kingdom
Police-everybreathyoutakethevideo.jpg Every Breath You Take: The Videos 1986-11-01 United Kingdom
Police-greatesthitsdvd.jpg Greatest Hits (long video) 1992-09-01 United Kingdom
Police-outlandostosynchronicities.jpg Outlandos to Synchronicities: A History of The Police Live! 1995-05-01 United Kingdom
Live Ghost In The Machine DVD.jpg Live Ghost In The Machine 2001-10-01 Japan
Police-everybreathyoutakethedvd.jpg Every Breath You Take: The DVD 2003-04-07 United Kingdom
Police-syncronicityconcertdvd.jpg Synchronicity Concert (DVD) 2005-09-01 United Kingdom

Lyrics

Lyrics are property and copyright of their owners, and provided here for educational purposes only.

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my legs don't break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could live together
Walking on, walking on the moon

Walking back from your house
Walking on the moon
Walking back from your house
Walking on the moon
Feet they hardly touch the ground
Walking on the moon
My feet don't hardly make no sound
Walking on, walking on the moon

Some may say
I'm wishing my days away
No way
And if it's the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow's another day
You stay
I may as well play

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my legs don't break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could be together
Walking on, walking on the moon

Some may say
I'm wishing my days away
No way
And if it's the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow's another day
You stay
I may as well play

Keep it up, keep it up

Quotations and trivia

  • Sting on how the song was first written:

"I was drunk in a hotel room in Munich, slumped on the bed with the whirling pit when this riff came into my head. I got up and starting walking round the room singing: 'Walking round the room, walking round the room'. That was all. In the cool light of morning I remembered what had happened and I wrote the riff down. But 'Walking Round The Room' was a stupid title so I thought of something even more stupid which was 'Walking on the Moon."

"Walking on the Moon' has two guitar parts, but there are long gaps in it where you'd expect an extra guitar to fill in -- and there's nothing, just the groove. They get the backing track, add the vocals and one or two overdubs, then have the faith to leave it. If anyone else had recorded 'Walking on the Moon' it wouldn't have been a hit -- it's what The Police do to it that makes it special."

(both quotes from L'Historia Bandido)

Alternative and cover versions

The Police

  • the 7" version is about a minute shorter than the LP version
  • the 12" version is about 10 seconds shorter than the LP version
  • several work in progress versions are way longer than the LP version

Cover versions

Cover versions of Walking On The Moon appear on the following album releases:

Cover art Artist Album title Release date Release country
Reggatta Mondatta.jpg Sly & Robbie feat. Ambilique Reggatta Mondatta 1997-MM-DD The Netherlands
Policia cover.jpg The Pale Policia! A Tribute To The Police 2005-MM-DD USA
  • The Frederic Alarie Trio recorded a jazz version of "Walking On The Moon" on the album Live A Vienne.[1][2][3]

Remixes

These three appear on:
Roxanne97.jpg "Roxanne '97" - 12" single A&M 1997-12-01 United Kingdom
Song appears on:
Roxanne97.jpg "Roxanne '97" - 7" single A&M 1997-12-01 United Kingdom

and furthermore:

There are also four unreleased remixes:

See also

References

sources: various, Roland GR500 information from 1982-09 Guitar Player; NME - November 17, 1979 (release date); The Independent - 9 / 93; L'Historia Bandido; Craig Betts; Chris Gray in Walking On The Moon: The Untold Story Of The Police And The Rise Of New Wave Rock