Wrapped Around Your Finger

"Wrapped Around Your Finger"
Single by The Police
from the album Synchronicity
B-side	"Someone to Talk To"
Released	July 1983 (1983-07) UK January 1984 (1984-01) US
Format	7", 12"
Recorded	January, 1983
Genre	New Wave
Length	5:13
Label	A&M - AM 127
Writer(s)	Sting
Producer	The Police, Hugh Padgham
The Police singles chronology
"Every Breath You Take" (1983) "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (1983) "Synchronicity II" (1983)
Alternative covers UK/French 7-inch single cover

"Wrapped Around Your Finger" is the second UK single from The Police's 1983 album Synchronicity. It was released worldwide by A&M Records and featured non-album track "Someone To Talk To" as a b-side.

Like other Police songs from this period, it features mythological and literary references, including the Scylla and Charybdis monsters of Greek mythology, and the German legend of Faust. It has a relatively slow, almost foreboding feel in the beginning verses, modulating to evoke a lighter, triumphant feel during the chorus. It reached number 7 in the UK charts in July 1983 and was the fourth single from Synchronicity to chart in the US, making it to #8 on the Billboard chart in March 1984.

Music video

The music video furthers the ethereal feeling the song gives off, by having footage of the band performing in a candle-lit, gloomy room, interspersed with scenes of Sting running among tall candlesticks arranged in a sort of maze. Andy Summers is shown playing an acoustic guitar, an instrument never used in any of the Police's recordings.

The video was directed by Godley & Creme.

Cover versions

• On the album Policia! - A Tribute to the Police, the metalcore band Underoath recorded this song.
• Brazilian alternative rock band Skank played an upbeat version of this song in Spanish language, titled "Estaré Prendido En Tus Dedos" ("I'll Be Bound to Your Fingers"), on their live album Skank MTV ao vivo.
• Dutch alternative rock/grunge band Green Lizard did a cover version on their debut album Identity in 2000.
• Tori Amos has covered this in concert several times with an intricate piano-only arrangement of the song. One of the versions is included in the bootleg Under The Covers With Tori.
• Bob Belden, Dianne Reeves & John Scofield covered this song.
• The album Punk Goes 80s includes a cover by Brazil
• John Mayer mentions the song title in his song '83', with the lyric 'It's a bittersweet feeling hearing wrapped around your finger on the radio'. He also samples the song's verse riff as the outro for his performance of Assassin during live performances
• Cyril Neville covered this song on the album Spirits in the Material World: a Reggae Tribute to the Police.

Other uses

• NBC used the intro and instrumental version of the song for a Super Bowl XXIII pregame piece on San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh and Cincinnati Bengals coach (and former Walsh assistant) Sam Wyche.

Personnel

• Sting - bass guitar, keyboards, lead and backing vocals on "Wrapped Around Your Finger", saxophone on "Someone to Talk To"
• Andy Summers - guitar, lead and backing vocals on "Someone To Talk To", effects
• Stewart Copeland - drums

Track listing

7": A&M / AM 127 (UK)

1. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" - 5:07
2. "Someone To Talk To" - 3:08

• also released on picture disc (AMP127). One per member.

7": A&M / AM-2614 (US)

1. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" -
2. "Tea in the Sahara" (Live) -

12": A&M / AMX 127 (UK)

1. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" - 5:07
2. "Someone To Talk To" - 3:08
3. "Message In A Bottle" (Live) - 4:52
4. "I Burn For You" - 4:50

12": A&M / SP17264 (US)

1. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" - 5:07
2. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (Live) - 5:21
3. "Murder By Numbers" - 4:37
4. "Someone To Talk To" - 3:08

• US promo 12"

References

• Wrapped Around Your Finger - technical notes on the music video from director Daniel Pearl.

External links

• Wrapped Around Your Finger video on YouTube