"Every Breath You Take" is a song by The Police on the band's 1983 album Synchronicity, written by Sting. The single was one of the biggest of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks and the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It also topped the BillboardTop Tracks chart for nine weeks. Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards of 1984 for "Every Breath You Take". The song ranked #84 on the Rolling Stonelist of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #25 on Billboard's Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs. This song is considered to be The Police's signature song.

The track was written during the collapse of Sting's marriage to Frances Tomelty; the lyrics are the words of a sinister, controlling character, who is watching "every breath you take; every move you make".

Sting later said he was disconcerted by how many people think the song is more positive than it is. He insists it's about unrequited love (the song was written at the time he and his then wife divorced), about the obsession with the lost lover, the jealousy and surveillance that followed. "One couple told me 'Oh we love that song; it was the main song played at our wedding!' I thought, 'Well, good luck.'" When asked why he appears angry in the music video Sting told BBC Radio 2, "I think the song is very, very sinister and ugly and people have misinterpreted it as being a gentle, little love song."

According to the Back to Monobox-set book, "Every Breath You Take" is said to be influenced by a Gene Pitney song titled "Every Breath I Take". The song is composed in Classical rondo form with its ABACABA structure. The lyrics are very similar to the opening lines of a short story by science fiction author Judith Merrill titled "Whoever You Are". The chorus appears to borrow heavily from the Leo Sayer track, "More Than I Can Say", recorded a couple of years before. The lyrics "Every breath I take" and "Every move I make", with the replacement of Iwith you, appear in the song "D'yer Mak'er" by Led Zeppelin.

"Every Breath You Take" is played by Sting on double bass and lead vocals, Andy Summers on electric guitar, piano and backing vocals, Stewart Copeland on drums and backing vocals, and a group of four violinists.

The demo of the song originally featured a synthesizer. While recording, Summers came up with a guitar part inspired by Béla Bartók that would later become a trademark lick, and played it straight through in one take. He was asked to put guitar onto what was to him an already finished song and just played what came to mind. As he finished his take, everyone in the control room burst into applause.

The song had a music video (directed by duo Godley & Creme) that was praised for its black-and-white cinematography. Both MTV (1999) and VH1 (2002) named it as one of the best music videos ever, placing it 16th and 33rd in their respective top 100 lists. Daniel Pearl won the first MTV cinematography award for his work on the video.

The song has been covered by artists including Dilana, UB40, Tina Arena, Juliana Hatfield, Millencolin, and Copeland. "Weird Al" Yankovic included a polka interpretation in his medley "Polkas on 45". Sergio Blass ( ex Menudo (band)) remade the song as "Siempre Te Amaré" in 1994. Also, a cover version of the song is used extensively in the 1985 film "Cat's Eye." The song was also covered in 2004 by UB40 for the "50 First Dates" Soundtrack. A cover by Mason Dixon reached #69 on the Hot Country Songs charts in 1983.

In 1986 Sting changed the lyrics to the song for a sequence at the end of a Spitting Image special. The title was altered to "Every Bomb You Make" and the video featured several of the puppets of world leaders projected over a setting sun. On the line "I'll be watching you", the puppet of Death appears. Sting himself performed the re-recording.

Sting also riffs on the lyrics in his song Love Is the Seventh Wave, singing "Every breath you take/every move you make/every cake you bake/every leg you break..."

In 1999, "Every Breath You Take" was listed as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Century by BMI. In 2003, VH1 ranked the song the #2 greatest Break-up song of all time. And also as of 2003, Sting was still taking in an average of $2000 per day in royalties for the then 20-year-old song "Every Breath You Take."

Australia's Seven Network also used a cover version of the song for their bumpers and promotions in 1999.

In October 2007, Sting was awarded a Million-Air certificate for 9 million airplays of "Every Breath You Take" at the prestigious BMI Awards show in London, England with only Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" a close second at 8 million air plays.

This song was also featured by in October 2008 Nintendo music simulation game, Wii Music.

The song's opening riff formed the basis for the Puff Daddy hit, I'll Be Missing You, a tribute to slain rapper The Notorious B.I.G.. When the song was played at that year's MTV Video Awards, Sting joined in alongside Puff Daddy and Faith Evans.

It was covered by Filipino acoustic band MYMP in 2006, and again by Filipina diva Jessa Zaragosa in 2009.

In 2009 it was also covered by David May feat. Kelvin Scott under I'll Be Watching Youtitle.