"Bring on the Night" is a song by British rock band

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

. Written by the band's bassist and vocalist Sting, the song appeared as the fourth track on the band's second studio album, ''

Reggatta de Blanc ''Reggatta de Blanc'' is the second studio album by British rock band the Police, released on 2 October 1979 by A&M Records. It was the band's first release to top the UK Albums Chart and features their first two UK number-one singles: " Messa ...

'' (1979).

Background

Some of the lyrics of "Bring on the Night" were recycled from the song "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)", which was written by Sting for the band Last Exit.Sutcliffe, Phil & Fielder, Hugh (1981). ''L'Historia Bandido''. London and New York: Proteus Books. . Page 36. The title "Carrion Prince (O Ye of Little Hope)" was taken from

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

's poem "King of Carrion," which is about

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of ...

. However, after reading ''

The Executioner's Song ''The Executioner's Song'' (1979) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning true crime novel by Norman Mailer that depicts the events related to the execution of Gary Gilmore for murder by the state of Utah. The title of the book may be a play on "The Lord Hi ...

'', Sting felt that the words fitted

Gary Gilmore Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...

's death wish, and says that since then, "I sing it with him in mind." Another line from "Bring on the Night", "when the evening spreads itself against the sky," is taken from T. S. Eliot's poem "

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", commonly known as "Prufrock", is the first professionally published poem by American-born British poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). Eliot began writing "Prufrock" in February 1910, and it was first publishe ...

," written in 1910-15. In ''Lyrics By Sting'', Sting said of this, "What is it Eliot said? 'Bad poets borrow, good poets steal'?" The song was only released as an album track in Britain, but was released as a single in the United States, Germany and France in November 1979. It was backed with "Visions of the Night" (the British B-side to "

Walking on the Moon "Walking on the Moon" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as the second single from their second studio album, ''Reggatta de Blanc'' (1979). The song was written by the band's lead vocalist and bassist Sting. It went on to beco ...

") in the United States, with "

" in Germany, and with " Roxanne" in France. The single managed to hit in France; however the song did not make it into the charts in the US and Germany. The song was also released in a compilation album ''

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

'', as well as in live form on the album '' Live!'', and featured as the title track on Sting’s live solo album ''

Bring On the Night ''Bring On the Night'' is the first live album by Sting recorded over the course of several live shows in 1985 and released in 1986. The title is taken from a song by the Police from their 1979 album ''Reggatta de Blanc''. The songs performed ...

'' which included extended jazz-influenced arrangements of Police songs, in addition to solo originals.

Critical reception

'' Cash Box'' said that "a charming acoustic guitar melody blends easily with the big kick drum beat and bassist." Greg Prato of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

'' noted the song as being "much more sedate than ome_songs_on_''Outlandos_d'Amour''.html" ;"title="Outlandos_d'Amour.html" ;"title="ome songs on ''Outlandos d'Amour">ome songs on ''Outlandos d'Amour''">Outlandos_d'Amour.html" ;"title="ome songs on ''Outlandos d'Amour">ome songs on ''Outlandos d'Amour''" ''AllMusic'' critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in his review of ''The Police'', noted the song as a "second-tier classic." ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Mike Duquette rated it to be the Police's 11th greatest song, saying that

Andy Summers Andrew James Summers (born 31 December 1942), is an English guitarist who was a member of the rock band The Police. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a band member in 2003. Summers has recorded solo albums, collaborated wi ...

' "

arpeggiated A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...

...is one of the band’s catchiest."

Track listing

;7" – A&M / AM 2218-S (US) # "Bring on the Night" – 4:15 # "Visions of the Night" – 3:05 ;7" – A&M / AMS 7689 (Germany) # "Bring on the Night" – 4:15 # "Reggatta de Blanc" – 3:05 ;7" – A&M / AMS 7687 (France) # "Bring on the Night" – 4:15 # " Roxanne" – 3:10

Personnel

* Sting – vocals, bass guitar *

– guitar *

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

– drums

Charts

References

{{authority control The Police songs 1979 songs 1979 singles Songs written by Sting (musician) Song recordings produced by Nigel Gray A&M Records singles