AABA Song Form Variation in EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE by Sting

The theme is obsession with menace, and all the component parts of the song support and reinforce it. However, just at the point in the standard AABA form where repetition is on the verge of becoming monotony, Sting, with great craft, brings in a whole new section - the C section - complete with fresh melodic and lyric content. This new song form is AABACBA.

Here's the new C section in full:

Since you've been gone I been lost without a trace
I dream at night I can only see your face
I look around but it's you I can't replace
I feel so cold and I long for your embrace
I keep crying baby, baby, please ...

The new section has longer lines and more words than previous verses. The new content tells of the effect the obsession is having on the narrator's own emotional landscape - a strong contrast to the previous verses that basically list all the different activities the narrator threatens to observe. The last word, on the last line of this section is a sustained plea which also provides the payoff for the song.

There's one more example of craft that I want to point out. Although in the new C section Sting introduces new content and form, he isn't tempted to introduce a new line-end rhyme scheme as well. He uses the same scheme as in the verses - aaaax (x=no rhyme) which is just enough to sustain his theme of menace and obsession throughout.

Variation and continuity - all in the same section. Expert stuff.

To prove the importance of the C section, you might like to imagine a version with the C section removed - AABABA - the song quickly becomes monotonous, devoid of any emotional peak or strong payoff.

Track Suggestions

There are several covers, including one by UB40. The original track by The Police from their album Synchronicity (1983) has very clear and accessible words. Here it is below.