I love how the drum grooves match the content of the verses. The first verse is a introduction to the state of the protagonist and there's mainly a kick drum in the 3rd beat, keeping it simple and personal. Second verse: lyrics goes deep into the protagonist and their lack of hope/anxiety while from the drum side the kick drum appears in all 4 beats, toms reensemble the human heart beat and there's no snare. Third-verse concludes the story bringing a sense of expansion to the world of the protagonist: From the drums perspective, still kick drum in the 4 beats but the snare is back and there's way more hi-hat/ride, matching the same sense of expansion of the protagonist world and the "return of hope". It feels like the drums weren't just played to sound cool but crafted to tell a story.
There are many The Police and Sting songs with interesting timing changes. Sometimes it will maintain a steady 4/4 but the phrases will contain differing numbers of measures.
Stewart Copeland's drumming is also very syncopated and he won't stay on a backbeat very long, if at all. Plus, in addition to actual time changes, he can play over/under the bar, implying a time change while actually staying in original time.
Copeland and Carter Beauford are two of my favorite drummers to dissect their groves for their ability to quickly wander and then return to the beat.
I think its more that the drum riff bounces all over the place. its not a straight 4/4 beat. There are displacements and all sorts of fun things in there
