“Walking on the Moon” by The Police

Succinctly put, The Police’s “Walking on the Moon” is about the singer (Sting) being in love. Thus the “giant steps” which result from “walking on the moon” are expressions used to describe the giddiness or weakness at the knees he feels due to the romance.

You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for The Police's Walking on the Moon at Lyrics.org.

It seems that the times the singer really feels this sensation is when “walking back from (her) house”. After seeing her is truly when he is on cloud nine.  Indeed this euphoric feeling has him so high that he feels as if his “feet… hardly touch the ground.”

So in conclusion, the singer is engaged in a romance which is at the stage where just being with his partner puts him on a higher plane of enjoyment. And likewise he is wishing that this feeling of “walking on the moon” that he is experiencing could last “forever”.

Lyrics of "Walking on the Moon"

What Sting said about the lyrics of “Walking on the Moon”

And while he never stated it outrightly, Sting has insinuated that his “first real girlfriend” may have inspired this track as he went on to state “walking back from Deborah’s house… would eventually become a song, for being in love is to be relieved of gravity”, with the moon of course having relatively-little gravity. However, he also related the moon/gravity analogy to the melody itself being “lighter than air”.

“Walking on the Moon” greatly influenced by reggae music

This song has a strong reggae influence, including being featured on The Police’s 1979 album Reggatta de Blanc (which translates to “White people reggae”). Furthermore, Sting performed it over two decades later as part of the Bob Marley tribute which graced the 2013 Grammy Awards.

When was “Walking on the Moon” released?

This song originally came out as part of The Police’s Reggatta de Blanc album on 2 October 1979.  Later A&M Records released it as a single on 4 November 1979, with “Visions of the Night” being on its B-side.

Where did The Police shoot the video for “Walking on the Moon”?

Fittingly The Police shot the official clip for this track in Florida at the Kennedy Space Center. The filming took place on 23 October 1979.

Composing and Production Credits

Sting is the sole writer of this track. According to him, he came up with the riff of the song while he was drunk one night in a hotel in German city of Munich. Upon coming to in the morning, he recalled the event and was able to write down what he had invented.

“Walking on the Moon” was produced by The Police in collaboration with Nigel Gray.

Chart Performance

“Walking on the Moon” performed exceptionally in Europe, topping both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart. In addition to that, it made its way into the top 10 in several countries, including the Netherlands and France. However, for some reason, it could not chart in the United States.

3 Responses

  1. Andrew Aungthwin says:

    You can simply replace Walking On The Moon with “when you fall in love”.
    For example:
    Giant steps are what you take, walking on the moon.
    Giant steps are what you take, when you fall in love.

    I hope my leg (heart) don’t break, walking on the moon.
    I hope my heart don’t break, when I fall in love.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Walking on the moon one of the best songs by the police (sting)

  3. Andy says:

    ah c’mon its a bunch of imagery poetry to back the greatest drummer in the world. Sting before he was Stung.

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