Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic"
Single by The Police
from the album Ghost in the Machine
B-side	Flexible Strategies
Released	2 November 1981
Format	Vinyl record (7")
Recorded	Le Studio, Morin Heights, Quebec, Canada, 1981
Genre	Rock, New Wave, reggae
Length	4:05 (7" single edit) 4:16 (Full-length album version)
Label	A&M - AMS 8174
Writer(s)	Sting
Producer	Hugh Padgham, Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers
The Police singles chronology
"Invisible Sun" (1981) "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (1981) "Spirits in the Material World" (1981)
Ghost in the Machine track listing "Spirits in the Material World" (1) "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" (2) Invisible Sun (3) Greatest Hits track listing "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" (8) "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (9) "Invisible Sun" (10) Audio sample file info · help

"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" is a song by British rock group The Police from their album Ghost in the Machine. It was also a hit single that reached the top of the charts in the United Kingdom in November 1981 and hit number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.

Content

Although recorded in 1981, Sting wrote the song as early as 1976. An early (1977) demo of the song can be heard on the Strontium 90 album Strontium 90: Police Academy. The piano part was added by session keyboardist Jean Roussel, whom Sting invited to play on the track against the wishes of his bandmates Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland.

Sting reprised the lyrics of the second verse to the end of the song "O My God" issued on the band's next album. These lyrics were repeated once more in "Seven Days" on Sting's solo album Ten Summoner's Tales.

"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."

The song has received a highly positive retrospective review from Allmusic journalist Chris True, who praised the lyrics and described the song as "pop brilliance".

Performance credits

• Sting - bass guitar, lead and backing vocals
• Andy Summers - guitars
• Stewart Copeland - drums
• Jean Roussel - piano, synthesiser

Track listing

7": A&M / AMS 8174 (UK)

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

7": A&M / AMS 9170 (NL)

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

Charts

Chart (1981)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart	2
Dutch Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	7
Norway (VG-lista)	5
UK Singles Chart	1
US Billboard Hot 100	3

Cover versions

• The Shadows covered the song on their 1990 album Reflection.
• The Celtic/Folk duo Jay and Abby Michaels - The Harper and The Minstrel performed the song as an acoustic ballad on their 2008 album For A Moment.
• The American rock band Ra covered the song on their 2005 album Duality.
• Shawn Colvin recorded the song (albeit with an appropriate pronoun change) on her 1994 Grammy-nominated album Cover Girl.
• John Mayer included the first few lines of the song while playing his hit "Your Body Is a Wonderland" on the live compilation Live in the X Lounge IV.
• American soul pianist John Legend borrowed the instrumentation from the verses on his collaboration, "Around My Way" with Brooklyn MC Talib Kweli.
• Harlem rapper Jim Jones sampled the instrumentation to make his own version of "Around My Way" with Max B.
• John Barrowman covered the song on his album, Another Side, in 2007.
• The Nylons covered the song on their a cappella album, Play On, released in 2002.
• Julie Collings released the song on her Don't EP in 2007, and her version was featured on Coverville episode 325.
• Filipino acoustic band MYMP covered the song in 2003, retitled "Every Little Thing He Does Is Magic", on their album Soulful Acoustic.
• Mashup artist Girl Talk used a sample from this song in his 2008 CD Feed the Animals.
• Mitchel Musso covered the song for Disney's Wizards of Waverly Place soundtrack.
• The song appears on ¡Policia! - A Tribute to the Police, released by The Militia Group in 2005. It was performed by Anadivine.
• Jazz fusion guitarist Lee Ritenour covered the song from the 2005 album "Rit's House."
• A version, called Magic, by the Black Eyed Peas was done for Legally Blonde and can be found on the movie's soundtrack.
• Chaka Demus covered the song on the Police Tribute 1997 album Reggatta Mondatta: Reggae Tribute to the Police.
• Ja Rule, sampled the song on his 2009 album The Mirror, on the song "Free", with help from Ashely Joi.
• Gloria Estefan & Joe Jonas teamed up for a salsa-version of the song performed in the music talent show, The Next: Fame Is at Your Doorstep.
• Dream pop music group Memoryhouse performed a version of the song in March of 2012 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.

Popular culture

The song appears in the video game Karaoke Revolution Party and Lego Rock Band, The Office episode entitled "Phyllis's Wedding" in Season 3 and in the 2005 film Bewitched.

The song was referenced in the video game Warcraft II, where the cheat code "every little thing she does" instantly gives the player all magic-related upgrades.

Indiana rock band She Does Is Magic takes their name from the last four words of the title of the song.

References

Preceded by "It's My Party" by Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin

UK number one single 14 November 1981 - 20 November 1981

Succeeded by "Under Pressure" by Queen (band) and David Bowie

See also

• List of European number-one hits of 1981
• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
• List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)

External links

• Full lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics