by Amanda London· Published August 25, 2020· Updated August 25, 2020

In “Roxanne”, the narrator, who may have encountered this working girl, tries to persuade her to stop prostituting herself because he is in love with her.

');var c=function(){cf.showAsyncAd(opts)};if(typeof window.cf !== 'undefined')c();else{cf_async=!0;var r=document.createElement("script"),s=document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0];r.async=!0;r.src="//";r.readyState?r.onreadystatechange=function(){if("loaded"==r.readyState||"complete"==r.readyState)r.onreadystatechange=null,c()}:r.onload=c;s.parentNode.insertBefore(r,s)}; })(); You can view the lyrics, alternate interprations and sheet music for The Police's Roxanne at Lyrics.org.

The phrase “Red Light”, is a reference to Red Light District, a term that describes neighborhoods or communities where a person can access sex-related services. The narrator tells Roxanne to put the red light off because he wants her to quit selling her body for money.

His desire for her to quit is not just to make her change her bad ways but to start a new life with him as her partner. The writer, who seems to have made a resolution to be with this lady, convinces her by promising to treat her much better than her customers. He won’t disrespect her, and she doesn’t even need to doll herself up because he loves her just as she is. He concludes the song by suggesting that if she continues with her prostitution, she’ll be living a very sad life, whereas if she stops and agrees to be with him, they are going to live happily together.

Sting talks about this classic

In a 1978 interview, Sting explained that the song was quite a serious track about the lives of working girls. According to him, he was inspired to create this song by some of these working girls he saw around his band’s hotel during one of their shows in France in 1977.

“Roxanne” Facts

Sting wrote this classic and co-produced it with the other member of The Police.

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“Roxanne” can be found on the band’s “Outlandos d’Amour” album. In April of 1978, “Roxanne” became the first of three singles the album spawned.

This working girl inspired song went down history as one of the greatest songs ever created. For example, on Rolling Stone‘s 2010 updated list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, it was placed at the 388th position.

VH1 also placed it at the 85th position on their in 2000 list of the greatest songs of the rock music genre.

Furthermore, “Roxanne” was honored in 2008 with an induction into the highly prestigious Grammy Hall of Fame.

“Roxanne” gave The Police a top-40 hit in more than six countries. Among the aforementioned countries include U.K., New Zealand and the U.S.A. In UK, it peaked at position 12 on their official singles charts. In New Zealand, it reached 8 whereas in the United States, it reached a modest positon of 32.