50 years ago, June 19, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were floating in a tin can far above the world circling the Moon, just hours away from Armstrong and Aldrin becoming the first humans to visit a sphere other than our own.

The Moon’s prominence in our earthly sky and its regular cycle of phases as seen from our pretty, spinning blue orb, have provided cultural references and influences for human cultures since, well, since there were humans, cultural influence that can be found in language, mythology, lunar calendar systems, art, and music.

Many moons ago, in a land we called the 1970s, I lived for The Police. They were a British Rock band with Sting on lead vocals, bass guitar, and the primary songwriter; Andy Summers on guitar and Stewart Copeland on percussion. They played a style of Rock that was part-Punk, part-Reggae, stirred in with Ska with a dash of Jazz. in 1983 Rolling Stone labelled them “the first British New Wave act to break through in America on a grand scale, and possibly the biggest band in the world”. The Police broke up in 1986 but reunited for a onetime world tour in summer 2008.

The Police have sold over 85 million records, making them one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. They won six Grammy Awards, two Brit Awards, an MTV Video Music Award, and in 2003 were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Four of their five studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone‘s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

Walking On The Moon was released as the second single from the second The Police album, Reggatta de Blanc (1979). The song was written by Sting. It was the band’s second Number One Hit. Sting said that he wrote the song when he was drunk one night after a concert in Munich. That following morning, he remembered the song and wrote it down. The Police shot the video for Walking On The Moon at Kennedy Space Center.

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my legs don’t break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could live together
Walking on, walking on the moon

Walking back from your house
Walking on the moon
Walking back from your house
Walking on the moon
Feet they hardly touch the ground
Walking on the moon
My feet don’t hardly make no sound
Walking on, walking on the moon

Some may say
I’m wishing my days away
No way
And if it’s the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow’s another day
You stay
I may as well play

Giant steps are what you take
Walking on the moon
I hope my legs don’t break
Walking on the moon
We could walk forever
Walking on the moon
We could be together
Walking on, walking on the moon

Some may say
I’m wishing my days away
No way
And if it’s the price I pay
Some say
Tomorrow’s another day
You stay
I may as well play
Keep it up, keep it up

Gordon Sumner, 1979