Don't Stand So Close to Me

"Don't Stand So Close to Me"
Song
B-side	"Friends" "A Sermon" (U.S. 7")

"Don't Stand So Close to Me" is a 1980 song and hit single by the British rock band The Police. It concerns a schoolgirl's crush on her young teacher and the teacher's nervousness about the situation. The Police won the 1982 "Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal" for this song. A re-recorded version of the song was released in 1986 as "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86".

Background

The song deals with the mixed feelings of lust, fear and guilt that a school teacher has for a female student and vice versa, and inappropriateness leading to confrontation. The music and lyrics of the song were written by the lead singer of The Police, Sting, who had previously worked as an English teacher. In a 2001 interview for the concert DVD ...All This Time, Sting denied that the song is autobiographical. The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" alludes to Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel Lolita which covers somewhat similar issues.

"Don't Stand So Close to Me" appeared on The Police's album Zenyattà Mondatta (A&M), and became a hit 'No.1' UK single along with a corresponding music video. It was the single that 'broke' The Police in the USA, as it reached the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, peaking at #10. In the U.K, the track was confirmed by the end of 1980 to have been the biggest selling single of that year.

The B side, "Friends", was written and sung by Andy Summers and is inspired by Stranger in a Strange Land, a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein.

Sting was asked to perform on Mark Knopfler's "Money for Nothing" as he was in Montserrat at the time, and reused the melody from the chorus of "Don't Stand So Close to Me" in the counterpoint lyric 'I want my MTV'. It was only after this story was related to reporters during promotions for the Brothers in Arms album that lawyers for Sting became involved, and later copies of the album co-credit the song to Sting. The initial pressings list only Mark Knopfler. It is one of only two shared songwriting credits on any Dire Straits album.

Personnel

• Sting - Lead vocals, bass guitar
• Andy Summers - Guitars, background vocals, lead vocals on "Friends"
• Stewart Copeland - Drums

Track listing

7" - A&M / AMS 7564 (UK)

1. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" - 4:03
2. "Friends" - 3:37

7" - A&M / AMS 2301 (US)

1. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" - 4:03
2. "A Sermon" - 2:34

1986 single release

"Don't Stand So Close to Me"
Song
B-side	"Don't Stand So Close To Me" (Live)

The song was re-recorded in 1986 in a new, brooding arrangement with a different chorus and a more opulent production. The new version appeared as "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" on the album Every Breath You Take: The Singles.

Likely because of the decrease in tempo, a slight lyric change is found in the line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" (the word 'famous' was added). A new music video was produced for the reworked song that was notable for its early use of animated computer graphics. This single was reportedly also one of the first commercial CD singles ever produced.

Because drummer Stewart Copeland broke his collarbone and was unable to play the drums, Copeland opted to use his Fairlight CMI to program the drum track for the single. While lead singer Sting pushed to utilize the drums on his Synclavier instead, the group's engineer found the Synclavier's programming interface difficult—and took him two days to complete the task. Copeland ultimately finished the drum programming very quickly and claimed that the Fairlight's then-legendary "Page R" (the device's sequencing page) saved his life and put him on the map as a composer. In a Qantas inflight radio program named "Reeling In The Years", Copeland was quoted as saying that the argument over Synclavier versus Fairlight drums was "the straw that broke the camel's back", and led to the group's unravelling.

As The Police had already disbanded by the time the 1986 single was released, this was the last recording before the band's reunion and the most recent studio recording the band has released to the present day.

Track listing

7" - A&M / AM 354 (UK)

1. "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" - 4:47
2. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Live) - 3:40

12" - A&M / AMY 354 (UK)

1. "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" (Dance Mix) - 6:32
2. "Don't Stand So Close to Me '86" - 4:47
3. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Original Version) - 4:03
4. "Don't Stand So Close to Me" (Live) - 3:40

Glee cover

"Don't Stand So Close to Me"
Song
B-side	"Young Girl"

The song was covered in an episode of the American television series Glee in 2009. It was performed by the character Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison) as a musical mashup with "Young Girl" in the episode "Ballad". It was included on the second soundtrack album from the series.

In the episode, high school student Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) develops a school-girl crush on her teacher, after singing the song "Endless Love" with him. In response, Mr. Schuester creates and performs the mashup for Rachel as a way to gently let her know that her crush is inappropriate for her age.

The single version charted at number 67 in Canada, number 64 in the United States and number 50 in Ireland.

See also

• Lolita