"Can't Stand Losing You" is a song by English 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 ...
, released from their debut album ''
Outlandos d'Amour
''Outlandos d'Amour'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Police, released on 2 November 1978 by A&M Records. Elevated by the success of its lead single, " Roxanne", ''Outlandos d'Amour'' peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart a ...
'', both in 1978. The song also was released as the follow-up single to "
Roxanne", reaching number 2 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
on a re-release in 1979. It was written by the band's lead singer and bassist
Sting as a song about suicide.
Composition
"Can't Stand Losing You" features lyrics which, according to Sting, is "about a
teenage suicide
Youth suicide is when a young person, generally categorized as someone below the legal age of majority, deliberately ends their own life. Rates of youth suicide and attempted youth suicide in Western societies and other countries are high. You ...
, which is always a bit of a joke." Sting also claimed that the lyrics took him only five minutes to write.
The song is musically similar to "Roxanne", with both songs bearing a reggae influence and a rock chorus. The song also makes use of the
Echoplex
The Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s—it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything else is measured." It was used by some of the ...
delay unit. Sting sings lead vocals on the song, which he described as "up and down, strange, high-pitched singing."
"Dead End Job", the B-side of "Can't Stand Losing You", is based on a riff Copeland wrote in high school. Sting's lyrics mention being a teacher as a
dead-end job
A dead-end job is a job where there is little or no chance of career development and advancement into a better position. If an individual requires further education to progress within their firm that is difficult to obtain for any reason, this can ...
, which was his job before joining The Police. The song was only available on vinyl until the release of 1993's ''
Message in a Box''.
Reception
''
Cash Box'' praised the power of the
refrain and said that "the vocals easily match the energy of the three-piece instrumentals."
Commercial performance
The original single capped at number 42 in late 1978,
but the June 1979 reissue nearly topped the UK Singles charts, held off only by "
I Don't Like Mondays
"I Don't Like Mondays" is a song by Irish new wave group the Boomtown Rats about the 1979 Cleveland Elementary School shooting in San Diego. It was released in 1979 as the lead single from their third album, ''The Fine Art of Surfacing''. Th ...
" by
The Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock music, rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hit record, hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Repub ...
.
"Can't Stand Losing You" also appeared on the UK singles charts in 1980, as part of the ''
Six Pack'' singles compilation set. The package (consisting of six 7" vinyl singles) peaked at number 17 on the UK charts in June 1980. In 1995, a live version of the song was released as a single and reached number 27 in the charts.
Controversy
The original single was banned by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
because of the controversial cover (an alternative cover was released in some places). As Sting described: "The reason they
had a problem with "Can't Stand Losing You" was because the photo on the cover of the single had
standing on a block of ice with a noose around his neck, waiting for the ice to melt." Despite this, or perhaps because of the extra attention from the controversy, it became the group's first single to break the charts,
and has held a spot in their live sets ever since it was written. The photography on the controversial cover was by Peter Gravelle.
" from the album of the same name originated from an improvisational stage jam played during live performances of "Can't Stand Losing You". This instrumental track went on to win the
'' in 1978, which was their first performance on television. Sting wore a pair of oversized sunglasses as a result of a mishap with a can of hairspray during makeup, which required a trip to the hospital.
Two music videos exist for the song. One features the group playing the song on a stage with Sting wearing huge glasses. Slow motion shots of the group live appear as well. The second features the group performing the song in front of a red backdrop. This was filmed on the same day as the red backdropped version of "