Rock Poetry Line by Line

"Roxanne"

“Roxanne” by the Police, 1978.

From  Outlandos  d’Amour .

Songwriter:  Sting.

Roxanne Sonneta

“Roxanne” charted on Rolling Stone’s top hits,

Shaped rock and roll per Grammy Hall of Fame.

 VH1’s best one hundred spot did list.

 The Police’s best known is Roxanne’s name.

Sting wrote of a trollop loved by a man,

And as we look at his words line by line,

Writers and readers see beyond the ban

Of the profession here since start of time.

We may scoff thinking unrealistic;

Or ponder, consider it possible.

Wonder if all Roxannes’ heads are just sick,

Yet found in literature and Bible.

We may discuss it till the cows come home;

Find no single answer why Roxannes roam.  ---Lisa Cole-Allen

Gordon Sumner always wore a yellow and black jersey to

rehearsals, and soon became known as “Sting.”  He was a bassist,

lead vocalist and composer for the English rock group, the Police.   

When he composed “Roxanne,” the group was at first diffident

about the song.  Their manager was immediately enthusiastic about

the “new wave” sound, which was a refreshing change from the disco

trend in rock at the time.  Inspired by the prostitutes seen near the

seedy hotel where the group was lodged while performing in Paris,

France, Sting wrote “Roxanne” in the point of view of a man who falls

in love with a prostitute.   As we analyze the lyrics the meanings are

clear, but the whys are as many as the profession is old.

“Roxanne”  

You don't have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don't have to sell your body to the night

Roxanne
You don't have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right

Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light

Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne

I loved you since I knew you
I wouldn't talk down to you
I have you to tell just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy

I know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
Told you once I won't tell you again
It's a bad way

Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light

Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)

“Roxanne”  

You don't have to put on the red light
Those days are over
You don't have to sell your body to the night

Roxanne
You don't have to wear that dress tonight
Walk the streets for money
You don't care if it's wrong or if it's right.

This passage alludes to the stigmas attached to prostitution.

The narrator tells her that “those days are over,” she needn’t

“put on the red light;” she doesn’t “have to sell [her] body to

the night,"... "wear that dress" or "walk the streets for money,"

 mindless "if it’s wrong or if it’s right.”   The chorus follows, which

I'll defer until the ending.

I loved you since I knew you
I wouldn't talk down to you
I have you to tell just how I feel
I won't share you with another boy

I know my mind is made up
So put away your make up
Told you once I won't tell you again
It's a bad way.

In this important passage, the narrator expresses his

love for her.  He respects her: “I wouldn’t talk down

to you.”  But he lays his expectations of her on the line:

“I won’t share you with another boy.”  He tells her his

“mind is made up;” he wants her to “put away [her]

makeup,” the last two lines reiterating that prostitution

is “a bad way” to exist.

Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light
Roxanne
You don't have to put on the red light

Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light)
Roxanne (Put on the red light).

The song ends with the chorus, which implores

Roxanne: “You don’t have to put on the red light.”

The narrator tells her she can quit prostitution, the red

 light on the front of a house representing the classic

sign of the availability of prostitution.  Paradoxically,

it demands of Roxanne that she “put on the red light,”

as in the red light traffic signal, meaning to stop.

After analyzing these words of Sting, having researched the

multitude of reasons women prostitute to earn their livings,

the complexities that motivate men to seek or prefer prostitutes,

and tried to find evidence of true love and happy marriages of

former prostitutes, my questions remain unanswered.  The only

conclusion I reach is that the stigma, the evil onus, and the criminal

liability of prostitution has been and still lies with women.  Men’s

activities with prostitutes are mainly considered embarrassments.

Prostitution is simply a matter of supply and demand.