"Love Is the Seventh Wave" by Sting

Song#:  2529
Date:  11/09/1985
Debut:  61
Peak:  17
Weeks:  13
Genre:  Pop, New Wave, Ska



Pop Bits:  Sting's debut solo album was shaping up to be a significant hit thanks to two Top 10 hits including the #3 "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free." Wanting to keep the streak going, this third single would be issued out. It would do nearly the same business on three charts getting to #17 Pop, #20 AC, and #19 Rock. While it wasn't able to crack the Top 10, the single helped to extend the life of the album, which would eventually sell over 3 million copies.

ReduxReview:  This sunny ditty showed a different side to Sting. A good chunk of his work with The Police and even his debut album's first two singles were a bit dark and intense. The ska beat and the jazzy sax playing by Branford Marsalis brightened things up and listeners responded quite well. I wouldn't have pegged this as a Top 20 single, but somehow it managed to make that mark. It's certainly a forgotten hit in Sting's catalog. I never much cared for the tune. I thought it was one of the weaker tracks on the album.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  This positive song about love gets a little mocked at the end by Sting via another one of his hits. As this song begins to fade, Sting starts to sing bits of "Every Breath You Take," his biggest hit with his former band The Police. That song's more stalker-ish love obsessed theme cuts into this song's love-will-solve-all message. It's almost like saying, yeah, that seventh wave is great but there is a rogue wave out here that could still crush it all.

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