Synchronicity II

Infobox Single
Name = Synchronicity II

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Artist = The Police
B-side = "Once Upon a Daydream"
from Album = Synchronicity
Released = start date|1983|10
Format = vinyl record (7")
Recorded = 1983
Genre = Rock
Length = 5:02
Label = A&M - AM 153
Writer = Sting
Producer = Stewart Copeland,
Sting,
Andy Summers
Chart position = * #17 (UK)
NoReviews = Yes
Last single = "Wrapped Around Your Finger" (1983)
This single = "Synchronicity II" (1983)
Next single = "King of Pain" (1984)

"Synchronicity II" is a song by The Police that has been described as aggressive and steely. "Synchronicity." "People Weekly" v20.(July 25, 1983): pp14(1).] It was recorded in 1983 and was included on their hit album "Synchronicity". It was released as a single in the UK by A&M Records. The third UK single from the album, it reached #17 in the charts in October 1983. It featured non-album track "Once Upon A Daydream" on the b-side.

The song, which refers to Carl Jung's theory of Synchronicity, nominally tells the story of an emasculated husband and harried father whose home, work life, and environment are terrible and depressing. In an early stretch of lyrics we find "Grandmother screaming at the wall" (family trouble/mental illness), as well as "mother chants her litany of boredom and frustration, but we know all her suicides are fake" (nagging, unhappy spouse). Later, we hear about the man humiliated by his boss, all the while he "knows that something somewhere has to break". Meanwhile something monstrous is emerging from a "dark Scottish lake/loch", a reference to the Loch Ness Monster — perhaps a parallel to the industrial and suburban angst, or to the father's own inner anguish. In "Synchronicity II" lead guitarist Andy Summers "forgoes the pretty clean sounds for post-apocalyptic squeals and crashing power chords," writes Matt Blackett in "Guitar Player" magazine. ["The 50 greatest tones of all time."(Critical Essay). Matt Blackett. "Guitar Player" 38.10 (Oct 2004): p44(17).]

Interpretations of the lyrical content vary widely [http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1685 Interpretations] of the content of "Synchronicity II" on www.songfacts.com] [http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=5936 Interpretations] of the content of "Synchronicity II" on www.songmeanings.net] . Writing in "Entertainment Weekly" about a 1996 Sting tour, Chris Willman said:

Sting explained the theme of the song to "Time" magazine: Quote|"Jung believed there was a large pattern to life, that it wasn't just chaos. Our song "Synchronicity II" is about two parallel events that aren't connected logically or causally, but symbolically." ["Official Police business" (music group Police). Jay Cocks. "Time" v122.(August 15, 1983): pp50(1).]

"Synchronicity II" also appears to have taken some inspiration from the poem "The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats. The theme of "The Second Coming" is similar to that of "Synchronicity II"—a civilization beginning to collapse, and the rise of something new, something perhaps savage, to take its place. "Synchronicity I," on the same album, also alludes to "The Second Coming". Its lyrics include a term from "The Second Coming", "Spiritus Mundi" (literally "spirit of the world"), which Yeats used to refer to the collective unconscious, another of Jung's theories.

Throughout the song, the musical tone follows the lyrics closely. The description of the man's working day is first underlaid with confident-sounding but chordless guitar notes, which in each verse segue through rising tension into a menacing scene of the creature. The final verse carries an image and tone worthy of a horror movie: "There's a shadow on the door / Of a cottage on the shore / Of a dark Scottish lake / Many miles away." A longer than usual melodic line makes the transition between the urban and creature horror.

The memorable music video for the song was directed by Godley & Creme.

"Synchronicity II" is covered and appears as a playable track on the PlayStation 2 game "". The master track of the song also appears as downloadable content in a 3-song pack for the music video game "Rock Band", along with "Roxanne" and "Can't Stand Losing You".

Credits

*Sting - bass, lead vocals, keyboards
*Andy Summers - guitar, backing vocals
*Stewart Copeland - drums

References