The truth behind that laugh at the start of “Roxanne”
The truth behind that laugh at the start of “Roxanne”
Ahmed Kajee
The truth behind that laugh at the start of “Roxanne”
Before stadium tours, before global superstardom, before the world knew his name, Sting was a struggling musician in a cheap Paris hotel room — staring out at the neon glow of the red-light district.
The band was still the early version of The Police, trying to find their sound. Outside their seedy motel, sex workers lined the street. Sting had never seen anything like it.
“I’d never been exposed to that… and I was kind of fascinated by it,” he later told Howard Stern. “I couldn’t afford one… so I conjured one up in my room as Roxanne.”
And just like that, a character was born.
Listen to what Sting had to say – during his interview with Howard Stern – below…
What made Roxanne so unusual wasn’t just the subject matter — it was the angle. Instead of judgement, the song imagined tenderness. What would it be like to fall in love with her? To try to rescue her? To wrestle with jealousy and vulnerability?
“I imagined her… what would it be like to actually be married to one of these girls?”
That vulnerability became the emotional heartbeat of the track — part reggae pulse, part rock urgency, all raw feeling.
The accidental chord that made history
If you listen closely to the opening seconds of Roxanne, you’ll hear a strange, slightly jarring piano chord — followed by laughter.
That wasn’t planned.
“The piano was right behind me,” Sting explained. “I just kind of relaxed. I thought the lid was down… and it wasn’t. I played a chord with my ass — and then I start laughing.”
Instead of editing it out, they kept it in.
That “mistake” became one of the most recognisable openings in rock history — proof that sometimes imperfection is exactly what makes a song unforgettable.
The first time he heard it on the radio
For an artist who would go on to sell millions of records, the first moment of hearing himself on the radio was surprisingly ordinary.
Sting was painting the kitchen ceiling of his basement flat in Bayswater, London. His young son was playing on the floor. White emulsion paint dripped from his brush. The radio was on in the background.
Then came that intro.
“I started singing… and I went, ‘I’m on the radio.’”
Not in a glamorous studio. Not backstage at a concert. On a ladder, covered in paint.
Did You Know?
When Roxanne was first released in 1978, it barely made an impact. It was only after it was re-released in 1979 — following growing attention around the band’s debut album Outlandos d’Amour — that it finally climbed the charts and launched The Police internationally.
Sometimes, even iconic songs need a second chance.
From a cheap Paris hotel room to global airwaves, Roxanne proves that inspiration can strike anywhere — even in the most unlikely places. And occasionally, history is made by accident… with a piano lid left open.
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