"Secret Journey" is a song by

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 Police ...

from their 1981 album, ''

Ghost in the Machine The "ghost in the machine" is a term originally used to describe and critique the notion of the mind existing alongside and separate to the body. In more recent times, the term has several uses, including the concept that the intellectual part of ...

''. Written by

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

, the song tells of a mystical journey that will make the traveller a "holy man". Although "Secret Journey" was not released as a single in Europe, the song did see a single release in some countries, such as

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and Canada.

Background

According to Sting, the lyrical inspiration for "Secret Journey" was the 1963 novel ''

Meetings with Remarkable Men ''Meetings with Remarkable Men, autobiographical in nature, is the second volume of the ''All and Everything'' trilogy written by the Greek-Armenian spiritual teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff started working on the Russian manuscript in 1927, ...

'', written by

George Gurdjieff George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...

. Sting said the following about the song: Sting mentioned the song in ''Lyrics by Sting'', saying, "I was looking for some spiritual guidance in my own life and, after a few false leads, finally began to listen to the discrete language of my own heart." "Secret Journey" was released as a single in May 1982 in the United States and Canada, as an alternative to the single "

Invisible Sun "Invisible Sun" is a song by British rock band the Police, released as a single in Europe in September 1981.Sutcliffe, Phil (1993). "A Police Discography". In ''Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings'' (pp.60–61) oxed set booklet A&M Reco ...

" which was only released in some parts of Europe, such as the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was also released as a single in Australia (the only country to receive both the "Invisible Sun" and "Secret Journey" singles) and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The song charted at No. 29 on the ''Billboard'' Mainstream Rock chart and also reached No. 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The Police Billboard Charts History Billboard.com. The B-side of "Secret Journey" was "Darkness", a

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 ...

penned track that was also from ''Ghost in the Machine''. Copeland said of the track in 2000, "Darkness is a song about vertigo. I'm very proud of it, and there's not really much to say about it."Garbarini, Vic (Spring 2000)
"I think if we came back..."
''Revolver''. The song was performed live only in America for ten days on the

Ghost in the Machine Tour The Ghost in the Machine Tour was a concert tour by The Police to promote their album ''Ghost in the Machine''. To reflect the horns-based sound that permeated the album, the band decided to work with back-up musicians, hiring a horn section cal ...

Reception

In the liner notes for ''Ghost in the Machine'', "Secret Journey" was called a "superb song", while in the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' review of the album, it was called "the record's highest moment." Giovanni Dadamo of ''The Face'' noted the track as one of the "magic moments" on ''Ghost in the Machine,'' and it was also described as "perhaps the best cut on the album" by ''Chart Songwords''. It received a positive review from ''

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 databas ...

s Greg Prato. ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Mike Duquette rated it as the Police's 20th greatest song. The Police's guitarist,

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 w ...

, noted "Secret Journey" as one of his personal favourite Police songs, saying, "I always thought that should have been a single."

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals, bass *

– guitars, Roland GR300 guitar synthesizer *

– drums, percussion

Track listing

7-inch: A&M / AM 2408-S (US)

# "Secret Journey" – 3:34 # "Darkness" – 3:14

Charts

References

{{The Police The Police songs 1981 songs 1982 singles A&M Records singles Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Songs written by Sting (musician)