If You Love Somebody Set Them Free
Sting cover.
Scott Booker's quote from Staring At Sound:
"There were maybe ten or twelve people there, not counting my friends, but right when we walked in, the Lips were doing their version of Sting's 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free,' which was just pure, unadulterated noise. I was mesmerized. I thought, 'Oh my God, this is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life.'"
"There were maybe ten or twelve people there, not counting my friends, but right when we walked in, the Lips were doing their version of Sting's 'If You Love Somebody Set Them Free,' which was just pure, unadulterated noise. I was mesmerized. I thought, 'Oh my God, this is the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life.'"
Original Version
If you need somebody, call my name
If you want someone, you can do the same
If you want to keep something precious
You got to lock it up and throw away the key
If you want to hold onto your possession
Don't even think about me
If you love somebody, set them free
If it's a mirror you want, just look into my eyes
Or a whipping boy, someone to despise
Or a prisoner in the dark
Tied up in chains you just can't see
Or a beast in a gilded cage
That's all some people ever want to be
If you love somebody, set them free
You can't control an independent heart
Can't tear the one you love apart
Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches, so many souls
Everything we see we want to possess
If you need somebody, call my name
If you want someone, you can do the same
If you want to keep something precious
You got to lock it up and throw away the key
If you want to hold onto your possession
Don't even think about me
If you love somebody, set them free
If you need somebody, call my name
If you want someone, you can do the same
If you want to keep something precious
You got to lock it up and throw away the key
If you want to hold onto your possession
Don't even think about me
Or a whipping boy, someone to despise
Or a prisoner in the dark
Tied up in chains you just can't see
Or a beast in a gilded cage
That's all some people ever want to be
Can't tear the one you love apart
Forever conditioned to believe that we can't live
We can't live here and be happy with less
So many riches, so many souls
Everything we see we want to possess
If you want someone, you can do the same
If you want to keep something precious
You got to lock it up and throw away the key
If you want to hold onto your possession
Don't even think about me
Discography Appearances
Live
There is only one documented performance of "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free," on Halloween 1985 in Norman. Earlier that night, Sting had played a solo concert at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman at the University of Oklahoma. The Lips put out fliers advertising their show later that night and played this Sting song as a tribute. The show was Scott Booker's first encounter with the Lips. Click on the date listing for his recollections.