"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" was written by Sting, who composed the music and lyrics in early 1977, before the Police formed. The English rock band recorded it for the album Ghost in the Machine (A&M, 1981), produced by the band and Hugh Padgham. It was released on 16 October 1981 as the second single in the UK and Ireland and as the lead single elsewhere. In standard 4/4 time, the song sets a tension between D major and D minor, and its bass line rises along a Lydian scale before resolving to D major. The new wave arrangement has reggae elements, including reggae-style bass accents and drumming and steel drums at the chorus, and it is unusually dominated by piano and synthesisers.
The single reached No. 1 in the UK in November 1981 and also topped the charts in Canada, Ireland and the Netherlands. It peaked at No. 3 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band's second-best American single after "Every Breath You Take". Critics praised its urgency, and AllMusic called it pop brilliance. Sting reprised the second verse lyric in "O My God" (Synchronicity, 1983) and "Seven Days" (Ten Summoner's Tales, 1993).
