Sunny Songs: Invisible Sun
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (86829)
United States
July 10, 2025 9:53am CST
Howdy from the home of the University of Illinois! I’m having lunch with Marie in an hour or so, but first I have to brighten your day with a song that has “sun” in the title. Here’s today’s not-too-cheery song of optimism.
Invisible Sun - The Police
We saw it on the side of a car.
— Andy Summers, when asked how The Police got their name 
You know something funny? Sting was the “hunk” in this band, allegedly, but I always found guitarist Andy Summers to be the cutest. When I saw them on the tour for this album in 1981, I spent most of my time watching Andy (and, as we were sitting behind the stage, drummer Stewart Copeland as well). Sting? I like what Copeland once said about him: “To me, he’ll always be the singer in my band.” 
This is hardly a happy song. Sting wrote it specifically about the hunger strikes going on during The Troubles in Northern Ireland (I remember when the news would always contain a blurb about what day it was of Bobby Sands’ hunger strike). Copeland, who was born in America but grew up in Beirut (his father was Miles Copeland, American diplomat and CIA agent), felt the same way as Beirut was being bombed by both sides during that time (Copeland wrote the song “Bombs Away” on Zenyatta Mondatta about the war in Lebanon).
The moral of the gloomy song (“they would kill me for a cigarette but I don’t wanna even die just yet”) is that there is hope.
Invisible Sun
Written by Sting
Recorded by The Police
From Ghost in the Machine, 1981
A statistic on a government chart:
You know something funny? Sting was the “hunk” in this band, allegedly, but I always found guitarist Andy Summers to be the cutest. When I saw them on the tour for this album in 1981, I spent most of my time watching Andy (and, as we were sitting behind the stage, drummer Stewart Copeland as well). Sting? I like what Copeland once said about him: “To me, he’ll always be the singer in my band.”
This is hardly a happy song. Sting wrote it specifically about the hunger strikes going on during The Troubles in Northern Ireland (I remember when the news would always contain a blurb about what day it was of Bobby Sands’ hunger strike). Copeland, who was born in America but grew up in Beirut (his father was Miles Copeland, American diplomat and CIA agent), felt the same way as Beirut was being bombed by both sides during that time (Copeland wrote the song “Bombs Away” on Zenyatta Mondatta about the war in Lebanon).
The moral of the gloomy song (“they would kill me for a cigarette but I don’t wanna even die just yet”) is that there is hope.
Invisible Sun
Written by Sting
Recorded by The Police
From Ghost in the Machine, 1981
A statistic on a government chart:Your browser isn’t supported anymore. Update it to get the best YouTube experience and our latest features. Learn moreRemind me later
9 people like this
7 responses
@Ineeddentures (35267)
•
11 Jul
Omg I know this song
And The Police
Me and Yvonne met Stings wife Trudi
Lovely lady.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86829)
• United States
11 Jul
@Ineeddentures — I see that she’s famous on her own, so no need for her to ride Sting’s coattails.
1 person likes this
@Ineeddentures (35267)
•
11 Jul
@FourWalls
Why a great story?
Stings wife,
Her and her daughter were staying at the same place as us near Aviemore during the Thunder in the Glen Harley Davidson weekend in 2015.
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (8316)
• United Kingdom
12 Jul
I remember the controversy over this song at the time. I can’t say it’s a favourite Police song of mine, but it does have “sun” in the title.
Bobby Sands: Yeah, they made a movie out of his hunger strike. I’ve never watched it, but it got good reviews.
1 person likes this
@Orson_Kart (8316)
• United Kingdom
12 Jul
@FourWalls I remember that. The BBC banning records often led to an increase in sales. Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Relax, was another example. Anything goes now.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86829)
• United States
12 Jul
They had footage of Northern Ireland in the video, which prompted the BBC to ban the song.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86829)
• United States
11 Jul
They had good lyrical. People might make fun of the title “De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,” but the lyrics of that song are strong.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86829)
• United States
11 Jul
Lame Police is better than “the best” from most, right?
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (98106)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
10 Jul
I know The Police but not this song,
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86829)
• United States
11 Jul
It was a hit in Europe (despite being banned by the BBC), not in America.
1 person likes this
