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Who is Roxanne

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Roxanne, 1977 - 2007
The story of Roxanne told through the classic Police/Sting song.

Photo by Paveita from Flickr under a Creative Commons Attribution License

Author's note
So Lonely and Roxanne were two of the first singles (vinyl) I bought as a child. They have always had special emotional resonance for me. The idea of doing a music lens on Roxanne as a biography gave me a way to tackle the subject. I may do one on So Lonely in future, but there is still much pain attached to it, and I need to find a way to tackle the subject.

I knew Roxanne would be an emotional lens for me. I hadn't realised how emotional until I wrote it, not just because of the personal meaning, but because of the material my research turned up. Emotions range from smiling to Goofy, to cheering along Branford Marsalis on the soprano sox, to tears when I added in the 9/11 material. This is a very special song and this is my tribute.

Kate

Roxanne - The Timeline

♯  1977 - Birth of Roxanne
♯  1979 - Roxanne's Faltering First Steps
♯  1981 - Roxanna? A Gangly Child
♯  1983 - Youthful Roxanne
♯  1985 - Roxanne Feeds the Starving
♯  1991 - Roxanno
♯  1999 - Roxanne at the End of the 20th Centrury
♯  2000 - Roxanne Gets Saxy
♭  2001 - Roxanne & 9/11 Tragedy
♯  2001 - El Tango de Roxanne
♯  2006 - Latin Roxanne
♯  2006 - And the Lady Says
♯  2007 - Roxanne 1977-2007

There is also some additional material:

Sting
Your Favourite Roxanne
Giant Squid Kate Phizackerley
Roxanne Gets Goofy

The Birth of Roxanne

(Sting, Paris, October 1977)

In October 1997, Sting was in Paris for a gig at the Nashville club. Even later in 1978 the Police were only paying £5 a day, for 3 days a week and he had a family. He was pretty skint so he stayed in a low rent hotel in one of Paris's seedier districts. There he observed the working women outside the hotel and wrote Roxanne as a contemplative song, imaging what it would be like to fall in love with a woman like that.

“ I loved you since I knew ya
I wouldn't talk down to ya
I have to tell you just how I feel „

There was an old movie poster for Cerano de Bergerac in the hotel lobby. His girlfriend was called Roxanne. Our heroine has her name and Roxanne was born.

Roxanne's Faltering First Steps

(The Police, 1979)

The single for Roxanne was first released in 1978 but failed to sell. It was re-released in April 1979 and climbed to number 12 in the UK Pop Charts, and number 32 in the USA. So this is a live version from 1979 of how this song started out with the Police. It's worth listening to because it shows how much the song has grown and matured. In this version it's just a rock song without any of the emotion or story that it grew into. Roxanne doesn't yet seem to have become a person whose life we care about.

Roxanna? A Gangly Child

(Sting, Secret Policeman's Other Ball, 1981)

We will see later that Roxanne becomes affectionately known as Roxanno, but the first hint is here in 1981 when Sting flirts with Roxanna instead. It's an uncomfortable version. There are hints of where Sting will later take Roxanne but he's not really yet mastered his own counter tenor voice, that most difficult of male fach, and it's more of a yodel that a song. It lacks the finesse she would grow into: in truth, Roxanne was something of an unpretty child.

Youthful Roxanne

(The Police, 1983)

Some 5 years later, you can see hear Roxanne's boisterous birth but there's now hints of the sassy lady she is to become. Emotion is starting ti creep in and her nickname (Roxanno) gets a brief mention.

Roxanne Feeds the Starving

(Sting feat. Branford Marsalis, 1985, Live Aid)

From the Parisian red light district, by 1985 Roxanne was centre stage with Sting at the Live Aid Concert, joined on the soprano saxophone by Brandord Marsalis.

Live Aid (4 Disc Set)

Amazon Price: $26.90 (as of 02/15/2012)
Used Price: $13.98

It's one of those days when you remember where you were but even you are to young the music will be remembered forever and always.

Usually ships in 1-2 business days

Roxanno

(Sting, 1991)

By the early nineties, Roxanne had acquired an affectionate nickname - Roxanno. Somehow it adds to her humanity. A good example is from 1991 with the crowd in Amsterdam shouting Roxanno back to Sting.

Roxanne at the End of the 20th Centrury

(George Michael, 1999)

A beautifully soft, jazz take on Roxanne. One of the best pieces George Michael has ever done for me, but sadly it doesn't really take Roxanne's story anywhere new .

This is taken from the 1999 Album, Songs from the Last Century. It's a beautiful sound. You can hear snatches of the other tracks like The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by following the link to Amazon which has a complete track listing and excerpts from all of the tracks. You can also buy an MP3 just of Roxanne - usually for less than $1.

Songs From The Last Century

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Roxanne Gets Saxy!

(Sting feat. Branford Marsalis, 2000)

The seductress gets saxed up when Sting is joined once again by saxophonist Branford Marsalis in an acoustic version that throbs with emotion. Sax solos have always drawn out the emotional content of lyrics. (If you like great sax solos, there are many more on my lens about the Greatest Sax Solos. You can vote for your favourite too!)

Roxanne & 9/11 Tragedy

(Sting, 9/11/2001)

A soft, haunting, melanchony tribute to Roxanne recorded in Tuscany on the night of 9/11.

On a very serious note, Sting and the crew agonised over whether the concert that night should go ahead. The decided to do Fragile, then see how they felt. This is the group's initial, sombre discussions and is a "must see" video.

cry

When you have watched the video of the discussion, you'll want to watch the band playing Fragile as a tribute to the World Trade Centre 9/11 victims. When I first watched this, I cried.

El Tango de Roxanne

(From Moulin Rouge, 2001)

The 2001 film Moulin Rouge directed by Baz Luhrmann takes Roxanne's story a little further and offers a distinctively stage version of the song.

“ We have a dance!
In the brothels of Buenos Aires
Tells the story
Of the prostitute
And the man
Who fell in love...
with her. „

This time Roxanne is in Buenos Aries but it's a familar tale of lust and betrayal.

Latin Roxanne

(Andy Summers & Chris Delano, 2006)

So much of the interpreation of the Roxanne story is down to Sting that it's easy to forget the other members of The Police. Roxanne was orginally intened as a Bossa Nova with a very latin feel, but was changed in the studio to a Tango. Here, Andy Summers, one of the other members of The Police, and Chris Delano give some indication in this bossa nova version of how we may have seen Roxanne if that change hadn't been made. Instead of European, she would probably be Argentinian. In some ways, in the Moulin Rouge El Tango de Roxanne, Roxanne has returned to her Latin roots.

And the Lady Says ...

(Dilana, 2006, Rock Star: Supernova)

You'd think more women would have advised Roxanne that she doesn't need to put on the red light any more, but it took until 2006 before there was a major version of Roxanne by a female singer.

Roxanne 1977 - 2007

(The Police, 2007)

I'm sure Roxanne's story will continue and artists and performers will continue to add to the tale, but it seems fitting to close the Roxanne book here by returning to the Police performing Roxanne in 2007. It's back to being a rock song, but this time in the greatest tradition of rock the music adds to the emotion. Roxanne is real and believable and the audience is fully involved in her story.

Roxanne, b1978, d2007 - a bright, vivacious woman of 29 so tragically squandered.

Sting

(Rockstar, ecowarrior)

Your Favourite Roxanne

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Giant Squid Kate Phizackerley

(Introducing the lens author)

I am very proud that this special lens was featured at the Giant Squid Community Showcase with this great comment...

"Give your lyric lenses a more personal spin and turn you ordinary song lens into something extraordinary."

If you have any extra information or questions about this lens you can contact Kate Phizackerley, the lensmistress, using the contact form I have provided.

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Kate has written many Squidoo lenses. Please visit her full lensography, sample Kate's top lenses, or read her Squidoo Diary to keep up to date with her recent publications.

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sandralynnsparks Sep 9, 2010 @ 2:07 pm | delete

This is cool! I love the new symphonic version he's done of this song.

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S.Forrest Apr 27, 2010 @ 2:05 pm | delete

one of the worlds most iconic Bands. Deservedly so. i was Just entering my Teens when I first heard Roxanne and Outlandos. I have not stopped listening and enjoying since.

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TamiRose Aug 29, 2009 @ 6:25 am | delete

Great job. Sting certainly is standing the test of time isn't he. Very evocative

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prosperity66 Aug 17, 2009 @ 4:08 am | delete

Your lens reminds me a lot of things as I too was a teenager when the song arrived on our charts and really loved it!
Thanks for bringing back my youth ;-)
Dom.

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BevsPaper Aug 15, 2009 @ 11:10 pm | delete

Very moving and well done!

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puzzlemaker Aug 15, 2009 @ 10:01 pm | delete

Very thorough. You've got it all broken down so well. I listened to Sting in high school. Not so much since. Hearing him now makes me remember why I liked his voice so much.

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Roxanne Gets Goofy

... and finally ...

Those who have viewed some of my other music lenses like my Purple People Eater lens will know I have a certain sense of ... whimsy. So I couldn't resist.

Roxanne is of course named for Goofy's girlfriend. There are a few mashup tributes, some to the Sting version and some like this, my favourite, to the Moulin Rouge version. Enjoy and goodbye!

Finally, thank you to the developers whose icons I feature: Dry Icons for the Portfolio icon; Gopal Raju for the Twitter Bird; Icons-Land for Sweet Angel, Cry and Cool; and Maja Benic for the Contact icon.

by Kate-Phizackerley

Kate-Phizackerley

Off Squidoo I am a middle-aged woman with a wide range of interests from Ancient Egypt, backgammon, cookery ... to ... Zimbabwe which I visited 20 years... more »

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