Message in a Bottle (song)
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| "Message in a Bottle" | |||||||||||
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| Single by The Police | |||||||||||
| from the album Reggatta de Blanc | |||||||||||
| B-side | "Landlord" | ||||||||||
| Released | September, 1979 | ||||||||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||||||||
| Recorded | 1979 | ||||||||||
| Genre | Rock, New Wave, reggae rock, post-punk | ||||||||||
| Length | 3:50 (7" single edit) 4:50 (Full-length album version) |
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| Label | A&M - AMS 7474 | ||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Sting | ||||||||||
| Producer | Nigel Gray, Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers | ||||||||||
| Certification | Gold (BPI) | ||||||||||
| The Police singles chronology | |||||||||||
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"Message in a Bottle" is a 1979 song by The Police, from their second album, Reggatta de Blanc.
The song is ostensibly about a story of a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek love. A year later, he has not received any sort of response, and despairs, thinking he is destined to be alone. The next day, he sees "a hundred billion bottles" on the shore, finding out that there are more people like him out there. The Police debuted the song on a live television show called "Rock Goes to College", filmed at Hatfield Polytechnic College in Hertfordshire, England. The Police donated all money earned from the show to the school.
The single was The Police's first number one hit in the United Kingdom,[1] but only reached #74 in the United States. An alternate "Classic Rock" mix is available on Every Breath You Take: The Classics. This is Sting's favourite song as confessed to Jools Holland of BBC fame.
The Police performed at Live Earth, a 2007 charity concert to raise awareness of global warming and other environmental hazards and performed "Message in a Bottle" as the US finale, with John Mayer playing guitar with Andy Summers (who described the track as a personal favorite in his book One Train Later) and Kanye West performing a rap verse over the chorus of the song.
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Samples and covers [edit]
- Morgan Page released his own version of the song on his 2012 studio album, In The Air.
- Canadian rock band Noise Therapy covered the song on their 2000 album Toyko 5-0.
- Rap artist Charles Hamilton samples "Message in a Bottle" heavily in the song "Verbal Vicodin", off the mix tape Intervention.
- Filipino rock band Wolfgang included a live version on their 2001 album Black Mantra.
- Rock band 30 Seconds to Mars covered the song live in 2006. The performance was released on their EP AOL Sessions Undercover.
- Thrash metal band Machine Head covered "Message in a Bottle" for their album The Burning Red.
- Punk band Leatherface covered "Message in a Bottle" for their album Mush.
- Pop-rock artist John Mayer often covers "Message in a Bottle" during his live performances. A recorded performance appears on Any Given Thursday, a live album recorded in Birmingham, Alabama.
- Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu covered the song with an additional verse for his record No Place to Be.
- African American rapper Pastor Troy sampled the background in his song: Street Law.
- Metal band Graveworm released a cover on the album Diabolical Figures in 2009.
- Crossover thrash band Excel covered "Message in a Bottle" for their album The Joke's on You.
- The John Butler Trio covered it live on Europe2 TV.[2]
- Swedish jazz guitarist Ulf Wakenius released a version on his 2012 album Vagabond, featuring singer Youn Sun Nah.
- Filipino band named The Dawn covered the song for their album The Later Half of Day last 2008.
- Sander van Doorn released the song under his alias Filterfunk in 2005 as S.O.S. (Message in a Bottle).
- Lower Than Atlantis covered the song in 2013 prior to their UK tour
Appearances in other media [edit]
- The song is featured as a playable cover track in the video game Guitar Hero II for the PS2 and Xbox 360, a playable track in Rock Band Unplugged for the PlayStation Portable, and also appears in the games Guitar Hero: Smash Hits for full band play[3] and Guitar Rock Tour for the Nintendo DS, iPhone and Java ME. It is also a downloadable track for the Rock Band series as a master track.
- "Message in a Bottle" is the closing song of the documentary film Bring on the Night, which documents the forming of Sting's first band after going solo. Sting performs the song as the encore of the Paris concert that is featured throughout the film. The song is performed as a solo number with Sting accompanying himself on a white Fender Telecaster.
- Sting also performs "Message in a Bottle" solo at the 1981 Amnesty International show The Secret Policeman's Other Ball, playing a black Stratocaster.
- Wayne Brady and Chip Esten would sing a version of the song in the game "Greatest Hits" on Whose Line Is It Anyway?
- The song plays during the theatrical trailer for the 2008 film Fool's Gold.
- Sting performed the song during the Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together telethon on November 2, 2012.
- The cover of chapter 703 in the manga series One Piece references the song, by saying "We'll send an SOS to the world".
- In 2012, the song was released as downloadable content for the game Rocksmith.
Track listing [edit]
- "Message in a Bottle" (Edit) – 3:50
- "Landlord" – 3:09
Charts [edit]
| Chart (1979-80) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Kent Music Report[4] | 5 |
| Austrian Top 40[5] | 24 |
| Belgian Singles Chart | 6 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles[6] | 2 |
| Dutch Singles Chart[5] | 2 |
| French Singles Chart | 3 |
| German Singles Chart[5] | 35 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 21 |
| New Zealand Singles Chart[5] | 11 |
| South African Singles Chart | 5 |
| Spanish Singles Chart | 1 |
| Swedish Singles Chart[5] | 20 |
| U.K. Singles Chart[1] | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] | 74 |
Year-End Chart [edit]
| Chart (1979) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.K. Singles Chart | 13 |
| Dutch Top 40 | 37 |
| Belgian VRT Top 30 | 53 |
| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Spanish Singles Chart | 6 |
| Canadian RPM Top Singles | 34 |
| Australian Kent Music Report | 40 |
| Italian Singles Chart | 80 |
Personnel [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b The Police in the UK Charts, The Official Charts.
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXwaqJgRV8&feature=related
- ^ http://smashhits.guitarhero.com/index_en_US.html
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ a b c d e http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Police&titel=Message+In+A+Bottle&cat=s
- ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.9477a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=2s9n4lemu8olntfvg1mhp8nic3
- ^ http://www.billboard.com/artist/418858/police/chart
| Preceded by "Cars" by Gary Numan |
UK number one single 29 September 1979 - 13 October 1979 |
Succeeded by "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles |
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