Message in a Bottle (song)

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"Message in a Bottle"

Single by The Police
from the album Reggatta de Blanc
Released	1979
Format	7" single
Recorded	1979
Genre	New Wave
Length	4:51
Label	A&M Records
Writer(s)	Sting
Producer(s)	Stewart Copeland Sting Andy Summers
Chart positions
#1 (UK) #74 (US) #2 (NL)
The Police singles chronology
"Can't Stand Losing You" (1979)	"Message in a Bottle" (1979)	"Walking on the Moon" (1979)

"Message in a Bottle" is a 1979 song by The Police, from their second album, Regatta de Blanc.

The song is about a castaway on an island, who sends out a message in a bottle to seek help. A year later, he feels that there is no need for love. Later on, he sees "a hundred billion bottles" on the shore, finding out that there are more people like him out there.

The song could also be understood to be dealing with isolation and loneliness caused by the loss of a loved one ("love can break your heart"): he seeks help but gets no reply, then realizes that there are many more people out there like him, suggesting that everyone has to deal with loss and loneliness as part of the human experience.

"Message in a Bottle" was The Police's first number one hit single in the United Kingdom, but only reached number 74 in the United States.

The song was covered by the Heavy Metal band Machine Head for their 1999 album The Burning Red. Sander van Doorn recorded a trance mix of the track; simply titled S.O.S. It was also recorded by Filterfunk as a house song, and by John Mayer on his Any Given Thursday live album, as an acoustic track. Taking Back Sunday performed the song on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The Welsh rockband Lostprophets used the first few notes of "Message in a Bottle" for their own song "I Don't Know", featured on their second album Start Something.