The 30 Best Police Covers Ever

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30. Unwoman — Wrapped Around Your Finger

Sting’s use of the internal monologue as an unreliable narrator is a consistent part of his songwriting. No one is easier to fool than oneself. So it is not clear whether the protagonist has turned the tables on his antagonist, or whether it is merely a fantasy they hold to make it through the day, or even the next five minutes. Unwoman’s remarkable cello, reverb synth and voice covers provide depths of darkness with a luxurious goth palette. From the first sung note, you know that you are not in a fantasy from a weak person. Hopefully you have not crossed them. Dark, lovely and energetic this version brings the internal monologue out of the mind and into the world as a threat. — Mike Tobyn

29. John Butler Trio — Message In A Bottle

In his first pass at “Message in a Bottle,” for Triple J’s Like a Version, John Butler, minus his trio, added some spiky syncopation to a solo rendition. The vocal was a bit karaoke, but his guitar playing more than made up. A better, and longer, version came later with his trio, and renders it an even more worthwhile exercise. — Seuras Og

28. Chase Holfelder — Every Breath You Take

This cover seems born for a horror film trailer, doubling down on the stalker-y lyrics with its slow and creepy ambiance. It is also a cover of contrasts. There are big stomps on the piano followed by tinkling keys and the tiptoe of pizzicato strings; all instruments dramatically cut out just for ominous strings to rush back in full force. There are occasional turns toward an emo sound in the vocals, and true to horror form, there is a jump scare around the two-minute mark, just a second after you might expect it. — Sara Stoudt

27. The Casket Lottery — Synchronicity II

Emanating both free-spiritedness and stern dedication to craft, this rendition of a complicated song has a lot of rugged charm. It’s what the Police might have sounded like if they stayed committed to their punk origins for more than a few minutes, or it’s what Nirvana might have become if they listed to the Police instead of the Pixies. If the whole Synchronicity period feels to you both brilliant and uncomfortably smug, too didactic and too polished and over-perfected, this is entirely agreeable and pleasantly strange cover. — Tom McDonald

26. The Valiant Thieves — Don’t Stand So Close to Me

“Don’t Stand So Close to Me” might be The Police’s most notorious song, or at least their most notorious hit. (“Mother” might beat it on notoriety among fans.) Explicitly inspired by one of the most controversial novels of the 20th-century—and Sting’s old job—it details an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher so catchily that nobody seemed particularly upset. The Valiant Thieves flip things around. Lead singer Ann Vriend sings the lyrics with a mixture of fear and intrigue, as if the perspective is the girl’s, not the teacher’s, and she’s got similarly ambivalent feelings. The rest of the band plays the song as contemporary jazz, complete with Fender Rhodes solo, and it’s only Vriend’s vocal melody that really sounds close to the original. The jazz backing gives the whole thing a somewhat sensual feel that only adds to the ambivalence of Vriend’s performance. It’s a gender flip that really makes us hear the song in a new light. — Riley Haas

25. Petra Haden — I Burn for You

With all due respect to the wondrous “Once Upon A Daydream” and Andy Summers’ stunner “Omegaman,” “I Burn for You” is the undisputed champ in the “most underrated deep cut in Police history” competition. The gorgeous drone first appeared on the soundtrack to the sinister 1982 film Brimstone & Treacle in which our beautiful Sting starred as the insidious is-he-a-demon lodger named Martin. Here’s where I confess that this is my favorite Police song of all time (with the other two aforementioned tracks landing just behind), and Petra Haden’s 2017, multi-tracked acapella version honors it immaculately. Tunefully faithful and just plain hypnotic-erotic. — Hope Silverman

24. Gregory Isaacs — So Lonely

Gregory Isaacs has one of the most distinctive voices in reggae, akin to agave syrup dripping slowly off a tongue. So he was a cert for the decidedly odd “Spirits in the Material World,” wherein the several established reggae artists (and Joan Osborne) celebrate the Police. Largely nuance-free facsimiles abound, but Isaacs levers in some emotion into the early single, and his contribution is the decided standout. — Seuras Og

23. hench — synchronicity i

The first of two title tracks from The Police’s final album, “Synchronicity I” is distinguished both by Sting’s synthesizer pattern and his lyrics drawn from Arthur Koestler’s The Roots of Coincidence. The synthesizer pattern is very much of the moment, with its gamelan influence, but was pretty unique for The Police. And Sting’s lyrics are typically high-minded.

LA musician hench opted to cover it for his contribution to the 25th edition of the PRF tribute series, but he chose a different approach than usual. Instead of singing Sting’s lyrics about how supposed coincidences supposedly reveal deeper meanings, hench opts to use a sample from the film Repo Man which conveys a somewhat similar idea, albeit perhaps a little less earnestly. But don’t let that choice turn you off. hench’s cover opens with cymbals and a bass synth that echoes the original pattern, before his version takes off with similar energy to the original. The instruments are mostly synthesizers, aside from the drums and bass, but this is not synthpop in the traditional sense. The drums hit throughout as the synths take on both Sting’s vocal melody and the other melodic elements. And Tracey Walter’s dialogue sits fittingly forward in the mix. As Walter’s speech finishes, hench breaks with the original for a coda dominated by electric guitar and organ. He caps it all off with orchestral percussion at the very end. It’s a really creative way to both honor and poke a little fun at the original. — Riley Haas

22. Ra — Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

Ra’s cover of “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” transforms the 1981 pop-rock hit into a heavier, more emotionally charged tune. While remaining faithful to the original’s memorable melody and lyrics, the band replaces the original’s reggae-influenced feel with driving guitars and a modern hard-rock edge. Sahaj Ticotin’s passionate vocal delivery adds a sense of longing and intensity, giving the song a fresh perspective. — Eric Taylor

21. Christian McBride Band — Walking On The Moon

Christian McBride is one of the great jazz bassists, but regularly covers rock songs, including “Walking on the Moon,” originally from the Police’s second album, Regatta de Blanc. The original is one of the most reggae-influenced songs in the band’s canon, with a very spare, jazzy arrangement. McBride, who has toured with Sting and played on his albums (and Sting has returned the favor), covered the song on his 2000 album, Sci-Fi, turning it into a jazz ballad, featuring McBride on electric bass, acoustic guitar from David Gilmour, and most notably, bass clarinet from James Carter, whose interplay with McBride at the end of the track is worth the price of admission. After hearing McBride’s band play it live, Sting reportedly told McBride, “you know, you could have just put a new title on it and kept the royalties for yourself. If you didn’t tell me that was ‘Walking on the Moon’ I probably wouldn’t have recognized it.” I don’t think that it is unrecognizable, but it is different enough to make it interesting. — Jordan Becker

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