Next to You
Encyclopedia
"Next to You" is a song written by Sting and recorded by The Police
as the opening track on their debut album Outlandos d'Amour
in 1978.
The song was performed regularly on the early Police tours, and Sting later included it during his 'Broken Music' tour in 2005–2006. It was the song performed for the second encore during The Police's 2007 Reunion tour
. In the Paris show (on September 29), former band member Henry Padovani
joined the band on stage to play this song. "Next to You" is the last song The Police played live together.
When Sting originally presented the song to his bandmates, they felt it was not aggressive nor political enough for the early punk sensibility of The Police. Andy Summers
and Stewart Copeland
suggested replacement lyrics, but Sting vetoed them and kept his original love song.
The song also includes a slide guitar solo by Summers, which Copeland had dismissed as "old wave."
Additionally, the song appears in the music video game
Rock Band as a playable track. For gameplay reasons, the song was also edited to have a proper ending, rather than just fading out as the song does on Outlandos d'Amour
.
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
as the opening track on their debut album Outlandos d'Amour
Outlandos d'Amour
The LP initially flopped, due to low exposure and an unfavourable reaction from the BBC to its first two singles, "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Roxanne" . As Sting describes:...
in 1978.
The song was performed regularly on the early Police tours, and Sting later included it during his 'Broken Music' tour in 2005–2006. It was the song performed for the second encore during The Police's 2007 Reunion tour
The Police Reunion Tour
The Police Reunion Tour was a 2007–2008 worldwide concert tour by The Police, marking the 30th anniversary of their beginnings. At its conclusion, the tour became the third highest grossing tour of all time, with revenues reaching over $340 million...
. In the Paris show (on September 29), former band member Henry Padovani
Henry Padovani
Henry Padovani is a French musician from Corsica, who is noted for having been the original guitarist for The Police...
joined the band on stage to play this song. "Next to You" is the last song The Police played live together.
When Sting originally presented the song to his bandmates, they felt it was not aggressive nor political enough for the early punk sensibility of The Police. Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
and Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
suggested replacement lyrics, but Sting vetoed them and kept his original love song.
The song also includes a slide guitar solo by Summers, which Copeland had dismissed as "old wave."
Additionally, the song appears in the music video game
Music video game
A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs...
Rock Band as a playable track. For gameplay reasons, the song was also edited to have a proper ending, rather than just fading out as the song does on Outlandos d'Amour
Outlandos d'Amour
The LP initially flopped, due to low exposure and an unfavourable reaction from the BBC to its first two singles, "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Roxanne" . As Sting describes:...
.
Cover versions
- The song was covered by the American rock band The OffspringThe OffspringThe Offspring is an American punk rock band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1984. Known as Manic Subsidal until 1986, the band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Dexter Holland, lead guitarist Kevin "Noodles" Wasserman, bassist Greg K. and drummer Pete Parada...
and included as a hidden trackHidden trackIn the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
at the end of their compilation album, Greatest HitsGreatest Hits (The Offspring album)-International bonus tracks:*On each edition, "Next to You" appears as a hidden track on track 15.-DualDisc edition:The DualDisc edition of the album has the standard 14 track album on the CD side...
. The song was released as a single and landed a spot on the Billboard Mainstream Rock charts. - The song was also covered by AnthraxAnthrax (band)Anthrax is an American heavy metal band from New York City, formed in 1981. Founded by guitarists Scott Ian and Danny Lilker, the band has since released ten studio albums and 20 singles, and an EP featuring Public Enemy. The band was one of the most popular of the 1980s thrash metal scene...
, and appears on their "Taking the Music Back" single. The Foo FightersFoo FightersFoo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
have also performed the song on their tours. - DonotsDonots-Albums:-Compilation albums:-Split albums:-Exclusive compilation tracks:-Singles:-Videography:-Music videos:-External links:***** with Truepunk.com * with Truepunk.com * with Truepunk.com...
covered the song on their 2006 compilation CD "The Story So Far." - Down By LawDown by Law (band)Down by Law is a punk rock band formed in 1989 by former All frontman Dave Smalley, who is the their only permanent member. The band has recorded 7 studio albums. They stayed on Epitaph Records until 1998 and have since switched to labels. Down by Law has never achieved substantial commercial...
covered the song on their 1993 "DC Guns" 7" EP. - Australian band BodyjarBodyjarBodyjar were an Australian punk rock/pop punk band based in Melbourne. They began performing under the name Bodyjar in 1994; their previous names included Damnation and Helium.-History:...
covered the song on their 1996 album, "Rimshot". - Serbian punk rock band DžukeleDžukeleDžukele were a Serbian punk rock band from Subotica.- History :The band Phoenix was formed in 1991 by Dragan Neorčić , Slobodan Vukosavljević , and Rudolf Aleksijević...
(lit. Stray Dogs) have covered the song on their 1996 debut CD/MC "Gledajući u Mrak" (lit. Staring into Darkness). However, they discarded the original lyrics and replaced them with completely unrelated Serbian ones, renaming the song to "Opasan Grad" (lit. Dangerous Town) in process. - The song was covered by Ednaswap and appeared in the movie Jawbreaker soundtrack.
- SupergrassSupergrassSupergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....
have covered the song at live shows during their 2008 tour. - The album ¡Policia! - A Tribute to the Police (20052005 in music-Events:*During the year 2005, 12 rock music albums scored number 1 in the USA. This was the first time even ten albums have scored number 1 since 1996.-January:...
) contains a cover by [ Big Collapse]. - Is also included on the 2010 Sting album SymphonicitiesSymphonicitiesSymphonicities is the tenth studio album by English musician Sting, released on 13 July 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon. The album is a companion piece to the tour of the same name, in which Sting, performing with the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, reinterprets some of his songs as classical...
.