So Lonely
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"So Lonely" | ||
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Single by The Police | ||
from the album Outlandos d'Amour | ||
Released | November 1978 February 1980 (re-release) |
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Format | vinyl record (7") | |
Recorded | 1978 | |
Genre | New Wave | |
Length | 4:52 | |
Label | A&M Records | |
Writer(s) | Sting | |
Producer(s) | Stewart Copeland, Sting, Andy Summers |
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Chart positions | ||
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The Police singles chronology | ||
"Walking on the Moon" (1979) |
"So Lonely" (1980) |
"Don't Stand So Close to Me" (1980) |
"So Lonely" is a song by The Police, appearing on the 1978 studio album Outlandos d'Amour and released as a single in November 1978 and in February 1980 (re-release). The single didn't chart on the first occasion but reached number 6 after the second release. The other singles from Outlandos D'Amour, "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You", followed a same scenario of not charting very high in 1978, but doing very well on a re-release. This is probably due to the fact that The Police had their breakthrough in 1979.
Sting has admitted that he used Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry as the basis for this song:
"People thrashing out three chords didn't really interest us musically. Reggae was accepted in punk circles and musically more sophisticated, and we could play it, so we veered off in that direction. I mean let's be honest here, 'So Lonely' was unabashedly culled from 'No Woman No Cry' by Bob Marley. Same chorus. What we invented was this thing of going back and forth between thrash punk and reggae. That was the little niche we created for ourselves."
—Sting, Revolver 4/2000[1]
The song has been covered many times, including a version by Limbeck on a Police tribute album put out on The Militia Group.