Synchronicity
by The Police

From Nobodyisemo 04/10/2016 04:51 | #163579 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Mother is reminiscent of the song from another Police album, Be My Girl-Sally. It's also written by Summers, and is about a dude and his sex doll. It's a character song, lighthearted and fun, probably not serious (just like Mother). Mother fits on this album alongside Sting's quirky lyrics and the bouncy and fun motif the music has for the rest of the album. Synchronicity II has a great melody and is another cool story-ish song. It's a good album with consistent use of experimental ambient guitar work, and early world music influences.
P.S. Wrapped Around Your Finger is an incredible, delicate ballad. Probably my favorite from them. Like the other dude said, it's about a power struggle, but he always comes back to her, so maybe it's not such a healthy relationship, but anybody who can sing such a gorgeous melody as this one for somebody must genuinely be in love.

From ChrisPBacon 03/27/2020 00:36 | #249131 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Best album by the Police. Best album of 1983. Great audio quality. Great singing and drumming. I like the whole album except "Mother". Favorite song: "Wrapped Around Your Finger" Bonus track on CD:"Murder By Numbers is also very good. (Edited)

The hate that "Mother" is getting is absolutely infuriating. Click on the comments for that song, they're absurd. You'd think that people devoted to ranking ALBUMS would think about that song in the context of the fucking ALBUM. "With one flow, you will know, synchronicity." "If we share this nightmare, we can dream." "You'll be, wrapped around my finger." "Walkin in your foooootsteeeeeps." "Every breath you take, every move you make, every vow you break, every step you take, I'll be watching you." "I'll always be, king of pain." "Nobody alive in here, nobody but us." They're making sounds palatable to the masses of the time just to terrorize them on a deeper level. They're punks to the core.

I can only imagine the groupies of this band to be like those crazy women who write love letters to serial killers in prison. I honestly wouldn't be surprised at all to find out that Sting has tons of bodies in his crawl space. They have an obsession with prostitutes to boot. It didn't stop with Roxanne, on this album we get the line, "like cheap tarts in a red light street." Take the common themes of possessiveness and jealous nature into context of this obsession. Jealous + possessive + obsession with prostitutes + insane mother issues = ???? Do you come up with anything OTHER than "serial killer"?

You know that campfire story where someone gets a puzzle with no picture on the box from a creepy thrift store and as they're putting it together, they realize that it's a picture of the room that they're sitting in? The last piece of the puzzle is the window of the room and there's a monster outside the window. They look at their own window and the monster is there. That's what piecing together this album is like, only there's a window for each band member and they're all holding axes and looking like, "HERE'S JOHNNY!"

Next time you hear this, do yourself a favor and listen for qualities of a horror movie soundtrack.

I'm really fucking disappointed in you this time, BEA. Synchronicity II is the best song here btw (followed by Mother), and if you don't realize this, you need to study up on Carl Jung and give it a few deep listens with the lyrics out until you do. I swear this album used to be rated higher, where it belonged. I almost want to add it to my chart just to help get it back there. It probably belongs on my chart anyway.

[BTW, check out Black Midi's cover of Talking Heads's "Psycho Killer" using lyrics from The Police's "Roxanne."] (Edited)

More like "Sting-chronicity", am I right? Huh?! Huh?! Anyone...? (Edited)

From poppmusic TOP 100 COMMENTER 03/26/2017 06:57 | #188116 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Anyone else think the first half is an absolute artistic triumph (comparable to "OK Computer" in terms of tone) and that the second half pales in comparison?

The first half is dark, expansive, and quite experimental, even beyond "Mother." Love the ringing "they say the meek shall inherit the earth" in "Walking in Your Footsteps", an otherwise foreboding tale, almost German-operatic. I love "Miss Gradenko" too- especially as I enter the workforce and almost feel the temptation to submit to the technocracy. "Synchronicity II" is maybe the centerpiece with its implausible yet still spine-tingling tale of the Loch Ness monster rising to devour the problems of the ordinary man. It's a searing and revelatory set of songs that really deserve a lot more praise.

The second half is fine in terms of pop- I like the ringing 80s sound and elements continue the expansiveness of the first half- "that's my soul up there", but goodness this album really ends with a long whimper.