Sting - If You Love Somebody Set Them Free

What this video is

Released in 1985 as Sting's debut solo single following the dissolution of The Police, 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free' marked a deliberate artistic repositioning: away from punk-inflected new wave and toward jazz-influenced adult contemporary rock. The song's title inverts the popular idiom ('if you love something set it free') into an imperative directed at the listener, signaling thematic maturity. The…

Why it matters

Represents the crystallization of the post-New Wave adult rock video format: sophisticated, performance-anchored, and cinematically lit. Signals the industry's recognition that artists transitioning out of youth-oriented genres required visually 'grown-up' MTV vehicles. A key artifact in the…

The director

Kevin Godley and Lol Creme, formerly of 10cc, became the defining music video directorial duo of the 1980s, responsible for landmark videos across genres. Their work is characterized by conceptual sophistication, precise lighting craft, and emotionally…