"If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is the first single released from Sting's solo debut album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. It is also the opening track of the album, and is featured on Fields of Gold: The Best of Sting 1984-1994.
Like much of the album, the song has heavy jazz influences, and was a major hit, peaking at #3 on the US Billboard Hot 100, #1 on the US Mainstream Rock Tracks for three weeks, and #26 on the UK Singles Chart.
Live performances of the song are featured on the DVD edition of Bring On the Night and on the CD and DVD editions of ...All This Time.
The single contains two remixes of the song, known as the "Jellybean Mix" and the "Torch Mix" as well as one other song called "Another Day," which appeared on Sting's live album Bring On the Night. It should be noted that the version of "Another Day" that appears on the live album is not the version which appears as the B-Side of "If Love Somebody Set Them Free". The B-Side version is a studio recording.
A portion of the song was later used for Sting's 1987 hit "We'll Be Together" from ...Nothing Like the Sun.
The song was also performed at The Brits in February 1995 with M People. He duetted the song with the band's lead singer, Heather Small and this track was given the dance treatment by the band who were also backed by a 100-strong Gospel Choir at the Earls Court Arena during the infamous annual music awards shows.
