Roxanne (Lied)

"Roxanne" is a hit song by the New Wave band The Police, first released in 1978 as a single and on their album Outlandos d'Amour. Lead singer Sting wrote the song, inspired by the prostitutes he saw near the band's seedy hotel while in Paris, France in October 1977 to perform at the Nashville Club. The title of the song comes from the name of the character in the play Cyrano de Bergerac, an old poster of which was hanging in the hotel foyer.

Sting had originally conceived the song as a bossa nova, but credits Police drummer Stewart Copeland for suggesting its final rhythmic form as a tango. During recording, Sting accidentally sat down on a piano keyboard in the studio, resulting in the atonal piano chord and laughter preserved at the beginning of the track. The Police were initially diffident about the song, but Miles Copeland III was immediately enthusiastic after hearing it, becoming their manager and getting them their first record deal with A&M Records. The single did not chart at first, but it was re-released in April 1979 and reached #12 in the U.K. and #32 in the U.S., and went on to become one of the classic Police songs as well as a staple of Sting's performances during his solo career.

Cover versions and cultural references

Variations of this song were performed by George Michael on his 1999 covers album Songs from the Last Century, and by Ewan McGregor, Jose Feliciano, Jacek Koman & Richard Roxburgh in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!. In 2005, the song was also recorded by the Chicago rock band Fall Out Boy. It was most recently featured on the reality show Rock Star: Supernova, performed by Chris Pierson.

A "Roxanne" drinking game is associated with the song in which players take a sip of their beverage with each mention of the title character's name.

This song was also sampled by the rapper Cam'ron for his 2000 single "What Means the World to You", off of his second album S.D.E.(Sports, Drugs, and Entertainment).

"Roxanne" was also referred to in the 2006 Arctic Monkeys hit, "When the sun goes down", a song also about prostitution, but in the slightly less glamourous Sheffield. "And he told Roxanne to put on her red light" is the line.

"Roxanne" is famously featured for comedic effect in the movie 48 Hrs. In the scene when Eddie Murphy's character is introduced to the audience, he is loudly singing along to the song which is playing on his Walkman (terribly mimicing Sting's voice). This moment was later imitated in the sequel Another 48 Hours.