Message in a Bottle was released by The Police in 1979 as the lead single from their album Reggatta de Blanc, written by lead singer Sting. The song tells the story of a castaway on a remote island who sends a plea for help in a bottle, building to the repeated SOS refrain in the chorus. It became the band's first UK number one and remains one of their best known songs, with the isolated chorus now reused online as a shorthand for loneliness, panic and comic cries for help.