Homage to Mark Knopfler (warning - very long post!)
This blog is intended, for the most part, to be about technical things relating to science, computers, and reality. However, those are not all that I am about, so, occasionally, I will digress. This is one of those posts, with apologies to MBH, who thinks I should stick to the original intent.
I got to indulge in one of my favorite pastimes this morning - working as a volunteer at the Georgia Aquarium as a docent at the Tropical Reef Wall exhibit. The GA is about 20 miles from my home.
I guarantee she looked like an angel
I couldn't think of what I should say
But when Adam saw Eve in the Garden
I believe he felt himself the same way
And I froze as she stepped in the doorway
Stood there as still as could be
I said, "I know it ain't much, it needs a woman's touch"
And she turned around and looked at me
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Think we got a chance of a life?
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Now you are to be my wife.
We had a prairie wedding
There was a preacher and a neighbour or two
I gave my golden thing a gold wedding ring
And the both of us said, "I do"
When the sun's going down on the prairie,
And the gold in her hair is aflame
I say, "Do you really love me Mary", and
I hold her and I whisper her name.
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Think we got a chance of life?
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Now you are to be my wife.
On the way there, I indulged in another of my favorites - listening to my music. I use an iPod (shameless plug) and it's on shuffle, so I never know what will play next. I have many favorite bands and singer/songwriters, however, one of my most favorites is Mark Knopfler, who was a founding member of Dire Straits.
{Before going forward with this tome post, I want to 'fess up to being most intrigued by music that is complex, with layers of subtlety and nuance (you will hear that phrase again). Sometimes it is just use of the drum in a complex manner, but it's almost always the blending of many things that get me to really listen with all of my brain. It can be in almost any musical genre, too.}
Two of Knopfler's best songs (IMHO) played closely together, and I began thinking once again about his genius.
The first was from Dire Straits premiere album, "Dire Straits". If I remember correctly, he was a teenager when that album was released, and it showed his ability to write, sing, and play a unique guitar style that comes through in every song I have heard him perform. The song many of you will remember from that album is "Sultans of Swing", which played on the radio and is what prompted me to buy the album (a real record!). However, his amazing abilities are most prominent on the songs that don't reach the airwaves.
So my iPod presented me with "In the Gallery", a song about the hypocrisy in the Arts profession in England, and how a very gifted man created a number of excellent statues and/or figurines, and how he was snubbed by the "machine" until he died, then his work made it "in the gallery". This particular song tells a great story, with Knopfler's guitar playing highlighting the song in a way not heard before. That album has always been the first I bought whenever the audio medium changed, the last being a CD.
His popularity (and the band's) soared with the release of "Brothers in Arms" and the I Want My MTV song, "Money for Nothing" , along with several others. My favorite there is the title song, a great piece of work about the fickleness of allies.
On the album "One Way Street", my favorite is "Iron Hand". It may be my favorite of all his songs. It also never made the airwaves, but proved his genius in many ways. (This song did NOT play on my iPod this morning, but I must mention it.)
"Iron Hand" is about a cavalry battle in England fought perhaps centuries ago. He wrote in the first verse:
With all the clarity of dream
The sky so blue, the grass so green
The rank and file and the navy blue
The deep and strong, the straight and true
The sky so blue, the grass so green
The rank and file and the navy blue
The deep and strong, the straight and true
He describes a scene in the story so that we know exactly how it looks, down to the colors we are to see. In the second and third verses:
The blue line, they got the given sign
The belts and boots march forward in time
The wood and leather, club and shield
Swept like a wave across the battlefield
Now with all the clarity of dream
The blood so red, the grass so green
The gleam of spur on chestnut flank
The cavalry did burst upon the ranks
The belts and boots march forward in time
The wood and leather, club and shield
Swept like a wave across the battlefield
Now with all the clarity of dream
The blood so red, the grass so green
The gleam of spur on chestnut flank
The cavalry did burst upon the ranks
he tells us about the beginning of the battle with more poetry and color. In the last two verses, we get the lesson he wants us to grasp:
Oh the iron will and iron hand
In England's green and pleasant land
No music for the shameful scene
That night they said it had even shocked the Queen
Well, alas, we've seen it all before
Knights in armour, days of yore
The same old fears and the same old crimes
We haven't changed since ancient times
In England's green and pleasant land
No music for the shameful scene
That night they said it had even shocked the Queen
Well, alas, we've seen it all before
Knights in armour, days of yore
The same old fears and the same old crimes
We haven't changed since ancient times
So now, we've seen his words and his point, but the story is only partially told, and not all dimensions of the song are present.
Knopfler's genius is in the total composition of each of his works. He uses his guitar, drums, and other instruments to provide us with the smell and feel of the battle. I can hear the charge of the cavalry and the firing of guns. The music is used to bring us into the conflict as if we were there. All of this is emphasized by his incredibly strong and versatile voice.
When I close my eyes* and listen to this song, I am there. I see the horses, even though he never mentions them directly. I smell the grass and the blood. It's incredibly poignant and powerful.
And the only way you can appreciate this song is to hear it. If you have the chance, do it in a quiet place, or wear good headphones so you don't miss any of the subtlety or nuance. It's worth it.
The second song I heard this morning is called "Prairie Wedding", and it's on the "Sailing to Philadelphia" album. There are other wonderful songs here, but this one gets me every time I hear it. I suspect that it resonates with me because, growing up, I read tons of books, mostly fiction and watched many movies, some of which were about the growth of the United States and the Old West.
This song is about a man meeting his future bride and wooing her in his way, set most likely in the early 1800s.
Knopfler's first words:
We only knew each other by letter
When I met her off the train
When the smoke had cleared and the dust was still
She was standing there speaking my name
When I met her off the train
When the smoke had cleared and the dust was still
She was standing there speaking my name
I guarantee she looked like an angel
I couldn't think of what I should say
But when Adam saw Eve in the Garden
I believe he felt himself the same way
I handed her up on the wagon
And I loaded up her trunk behind
She was sitting up there with the gold in her hair
And I tried to get a hold of my mind
And I loaded up her trunk behind
She was sitting up there with the gold in her hair
And I tried to get a hold of my mind
are about the nameless man seeing her for the first time, not knowing what to expect. He is scared and entranced by her, and we can feel it. Again, Knopfler uses words intriguingly, with terminology that a humble man at the time might have used.
Now comes the chorus:
Think you could love me Mary?
Think we got a chance of a life?
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Now you are to be my wife.
Think you could love me Mary?
Think we got a chance of a life?
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Now you are to be my wife.
The story continues:
We finally headed out of the station
And we drove up the home trail
And when we came on the farm she laid a hand on my arm
I thought my resolution would fail
We finally headed out of the station
And we drove up the home trail
And when we came on the farm she laid a hand on my arm
I thought my resolution would fail
And I froze as she stepped in the doorway
Stood there as still as could be
I said, "I know it ain't much, it needs a woman's touch"
And she turned around and looked at me
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Think we got a chance of a life?
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Now you are to be my wife.
We had a prairie wedding
There was a preacher and a neighbour or two
I gave my golden thing a gold wedding ring
And the both of us said, "I do"
When the sun's going down on the prairie,
And the gold in her hair is aflame
I say, "Do you really love me Mary", and
I hold her and I whisper her name.
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Think we got a chance of life?
Do you think that you could love me Mary?
Now you are to be my wife.
The words are poetry, the phraseology inspired, but, again, they only give us the skeleton of the story. Knopfler's spare use of his guitar underscores each phrase and fill in many gaps, but the true genius of this song lies in the combination of the words, his guitar playing, and the use of his voice. He sings this song as the man of the story, softly sung and with feeling. Knopfler has reigned in the power of his voice, but kept the power through subtlety. I can feel his trepidation, fear, admiration, and love of this woman, and how complete he feels when they are married.
Once again, you have to hear this song to understand what I am saying.
I don't believe I have ever heard a singing storyteller of his caliber. I admire his ability to move me through his art.
To me, the true shame of this has always been that most people who have heard these songs have never taken the time to truly listen and enjoy what Mark Knopfler has wrought with his art. I very rarely speak of genius, but I use that term whenever I speak of him. I know little or nothing of his life. I just know that I am glad he has shared this all with me.
Now, I share it with you. I hope you take the time out of your busy lives to really listen to this man's contributions to the world. It would be a somewhat sadder, less meaningful place without him.
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* - Don't worry, I didn't close my eyes while driving into Atlanta.
"Iron Hand" is from the album "On Every Street". It probably never reached the airwaves because the record company chose to promote the ghastly "Calling Elvis" and the mainstream people just gave up on Dire Straits after that.
His collaboration with Emmylou Harris on "All The Roadrunning" is superb. I found her latest albums from "Red Dirt Girl" onwards boring and uninspired, but the aforementioned album stands out with her voice at the its best.
I know other people are lauding her albums but I'm just yawning.
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Thomas -
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My iPod threw this Randy Newman gem of a song at me today, I'd completely forgotten about it.
Mark Knopfler does his thing on guitar and I also think he's twirling the knobs from the producers chair as well.
I'm not sure who wrote it, either of them could have written this.
"It's Money That Matters":
Of all of the people that I used to know
Most never adjusted to the great big world
I see them lurking in book stores
Working for the Public Radio
Carrying their babies around in a sack on their back
Moving careful and slow
(Chorus)
It's money that matters
Hear what I say
It's money that matters
In the USA
All of these people are much brighter than I
In any fair system they would flourish and thrive
But they barely survive
They eke out a living and they barely survive
When I was a young boy, maybe thirteen
I took a hard look around me and asked what does it mean?
So I talked to my father, and he didn't know
And I talked to my friend and he didn't know
And I talked to my brother and he didn't know
And I talked to everybody that I knew
(Chorus)
It's money that matters
Now you know that it's true
It's money that matters
Whatever you do
Then I talked to a man lived up on the county line
I was washing his car with a friend of mine
He was a little fat guy in a red jumpsuit
I said "You look kind of funny"
He said "I know that I do"
"But I got a great big house on the hill here
And a great big blonde wife inside it
And a great big pool in my backyard and another great big pool
beside it
Sonny it's money that matters, hear what I say
It's money that matters in the USA
It's money that matters
Now you know that it's true
It's money that matters whatever you do"
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Nice to see that other people still appreciate intelligence and true art
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Ingo -
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It's great to see Mark K's masterful song-writing appreciated. Do you know his latest record, Kill to Get Crimson? Have you heard Madame Geneva’s and The Fish and the Bird and Heart Full of Holes? More great songs in the same vein.
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Yvonne -
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Sid, it doesn't surprise me at all that you truly appreciate music...that love of the art of a great song oozes out of you even when you're not talking/writing about it. Anyone who appreciates critical thinking knows that music hits us on so many levels, and only the most gifted writers touch our hearts, minds and souls at the same time.
Through all my years in radio, I played a LOT of disposable music. I also played songs that were little pieces of art, and the Dire Straits songs that made radio are still some of the best of their time. And as you point out, Sid, some of an artist's best work often doesn't make it to the mainstream, meaning that those of us who -gasp!- actually buy an entire cd instead of just downloading the hits get the good stuff.
Other artists you might like to explore include Sting's album cuts, Miranda Lambert, Bruce Hornsby on a really good day, and Keith Anderson (production is standardized Nashville, but his songwriting is gifted.)
Thanks for going off-topic today, Sid...it helps us all know you better!
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Thank you for the praise, Sandy. Although I am a very technical person, I have my spiritual and artistic sides, and sometimes something hits me strong enough or is so powerful that I have to share. I have wanted to say something for years about the way MK's works affect me, and have only been able to do it one person at a time, and, of course, only when appropriate. Now I have a forum for sharing, even though I will probably never know how many people this goes out to or stop by to look.
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Geez, when I look at my list of music, it's truly hard for me to list my favorites. The list in my original reply was just a few, but then I see:
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Sid, I learned a lot about you today. Thanx
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Sid:
I just found your blog through your brother's. I'm a fan of Knopfler and Dire Straits myself. Some of his lyrics are truly poetic and amazing. What you said about the music and lyrics evoking a location for the song is so true. Anytime I listen to "Ride across the river", the Pan flutes at the beginning places me amongst a band of idealistic rebels in a cold, high mountain camp somewhere in South America dreaming of revolution. "Today in the mountains, tommorow the world"
Similarly with "The Man's too strong", the strumming guitar evokes to me the Mexican/American border region, something out of a Spaghetti western.
I could go on and on, but I'd stop now. In terms of poetic lyrics, however, "Love over gold" is my absolute favourite.
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I just stumbled on this blog today.
I fully agree with you. Ignorance of songs like Gallery (my favorite)is unfurtunate.
I never understood why Mark Knopfler does not get the recognition that artists who don't have even a fraction of his talent get. HE IS GENIUS. I am yet to listen to an artist who has more songs with outstanding outros than MK. sultans of swing, tunnel of love, telegraphic road, speedway to nazareth, lions .. so many of them. And his guitar is pure melody. Not even David Gilmour or Clapton has consistently delivered melody with guitar like Knopfler.
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Ravi -
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