Mark Knopfler
British musician
Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer, best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977 with his brother David.
As the battles raged higher
And though they hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms.
Song lyrics
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You play the guitar on the MTV.
That ain't workin', that's the way you do it.
Money for nothin' and chicks for free.
He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright.
He can play the honky tonk like anything,
Saving it up for Friday night.
With the Sultans... with the Sultans of Swing.
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And a rock n roll dream.
She's making movies on location.
She don't know what it means.
But the music make her wanna be the story.
And the story was whatever was the song, what it was.
Rollergirl don't worry.
D.J. plays the movies all night long.
Dire Straits (1978)
edit- You say I'm the greatest, bound for glory.
Well the word is out and I learned.
I got the latest side of the story:
You're pulling out before you get burned.
- And Harry doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene
He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright.
He can play the honky tonk like anything,
Saving it up for Friday night.
With the Sultans... with the Sultans of Swing.
- Stepping out to Angellucci's for my coffee beans
Checking out the movies and the magazines
Waitress she watches me crossing from the Barocco Bar
I'm getting a pickup for my steel guitar
I saw you walking out Shaftesbury Avenue
Excuse me for talking I wanna marry you
This is the seventh heaven street to me
Don't be so proud
You're just another angel in the crowd
And I'm walking in the wild west end
Walking with your wild best friend
And my conductress on the number nineteen
She was a honey
Pink toenails and hands all dirty with money
Greasy hair, easy smile
Made me feel nineteen for a while
Communiqué, (1979)
edit- Lady writer on the TV
She had all the brains and the beauty.
The picture does not fit
You talked to me when you felt like it.
Just the way that her hair fell down around her face
Then I recall my fall from grace
Another time, another place.
Making Movies (1980)
edit- Getting crazy on the Waltzers, but it's the life that I choose.
Sing about the sixblade, sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo.
And I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam,
And I don't know where I'll be tonight but I'd always tell you where I am.- Tunnel of Love, written with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
- A love struck Romeo, sings a street-suss serenade;
Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made.
Finds a convenient street light, steps out of the shade
He says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?" - Juliet says, "Hey, it's Romeo. You nearly give me a heart attack."
He's underneath the window; she's singing, "Hey, la, my boyfriend's back.
You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that.
Anyway what you gonna do about it?"
- Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet, then you exploded in my heart
And I forget, I forget the movie song
When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong? Juliet.
We come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame
Both dirty, both mean, yes, and the dream was just the same
And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals? - When you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah.
Now you just say, "Oh, Romeo, yeah. You know, I used to have a scene with him."
- I seen a girl on a one way corridor
Stealing down a wrong way street
For all the world like an urban toreador
She had wheels on her feet
Well the cars do the usual dances
Same old cruise and the curbside crawl
But the roller girl she's taking chances
They just love to see her take them all
No fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
In her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud - Hallelujah here she comes queen rollerball
Om Shanti what can I say don't care at all
You know she used to have to wait around
She used to be the lonely one
But now that she can skate around town
She's the only one
- She gets rock n roll, a rock n roll station
And a rock n roll dream.
She's making movies on location.
She don't know what it means.
But the music make her wanna be the story.
And the story was whatever was the song, what it was.
Rollergirl don't worry.
D.J. plays the movies all night long.
- She gets the sun in the daytime
Perfume in the dusk
And she comes out in the night time
With the honeysuckle musk
Because she smells just like a rose
And she tastes just like a peach
She got me walking where the wildlife goes
I'd do anything to reach her
And she was made in heaven
Heaven's in the world
Love over Gold (1982)
edit
They're refusing to be pacified, it's him they blame the most.
The watchdog's got rabies, the foreman's got the fleas.
And everyone's concerned about Industrial Disease.
- A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back
And he put down his load
Where he thought it was the best
He made a home in the wilderness
He built a cabin and a winter store
And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore
And the other travelers came walking down the track
And they never went further, no
They never went back
Yes, and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed
We're gonna have to reap from some seed that's been sowed- Telegraph Road
- Well, I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights
Yeah, life was just a bet on a race between the lights
You had your head on my shoulder
Your hand in my hair
Now you act a little colder
Like you don't seem to care- Telegraph Road
- You get to meet all sorts in this line of work
Treachery and treason, there's always an excuse for it
And when I find the reason, I still can't get used to it
And what have you got at the end of the day?
What have you got to take away?
A bottle of whisky and a new set of lies- Private Investigations
- The caretaker was crucified for sleeping at his post
They're refusing to be pacified, it's him they blame the most.
The watchdog's got rabies, the foreman's got the fleas.
And everyone's concerned about Industrial Disease.
There's panic on the switchboard, tongues are tied in knots.
Some come out in sympathy, some come out in spots.
Some blame the management, some blame the employees.
And everybody knows it's the Industrial Disease.
- Two men say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong.
- Industrial Disease
- It takes love over gold
And mind over matter
To do what you do that you must
When the things that you hold
Can fall and be shattered
Or run through your fingers like dust- Love Over Gold
Brothers in Arms (1985)
edit- I'm tired of being in love and being all alone
When you're so far away from me.
I'm tired of making out on the telephone
Because you're so far away from me.
- Now look at them yo-yo's, that's the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV.
That ain't workin', that's the way you do it.
Money for nothin' and chicks for free.
Now that ain't workin', that's the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain't dumb.
Maybe get a blister on your little finger;
Maybe get a blister on your thumb.- Money for Nothing, written with Sting
- Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay.
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh yeah the boy can play.
Dedication, devotion
Turning all the night time into the day.
- All the late night bargains have been struck
Between the satin beaus and their belles.
Prehistoric garbage trucks
Have the city to themselves
Echoes and roars, dinosaurs
They're all doing the monster mash.
And most of the taxis, most of the whores
Are only taking calls for cash.I don't know how it happened
It all took place so quick.
But all I can do is hand it to you
And your latest trick.
- Why worry? There should be laughter after pain.
There should be sunshine after rain.
These things have always been the same.
So why worry now?- Why Worry
- Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms.
- But it's written in the starlight
And every line in your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms.
On Every Street (1991)
edit- A three-chord symphony crashes into space
The moon is hanging upside down
I don't know why it is I'm still on the case
It's a ravenous town
And you still refuse to be traced
Seems to me such a waste
And every victory has a taste that's bittersweet- On Every Street
Sometimes you're the bug
- If we can't get along we oughta be apart
And I'm wondering where'd you get that cold, cold heart
Set me free - sign my release
I'm tired of being the villain of the peace- When It Comes to You
- Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
Sometimes it all come together baby
Sometimes you're a fool in love
Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger baby
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all come together
Sometimes you're gonna lose it all- The Bug
- Last time I was sober, man I felt bad
Worst hangover that I ever had.
It took six hamburgers and scotch all night
Nicotine for breakfast just to put me right.
’Cause if you wanna run cool,
If you wanna run cool,
If you wanna run cool, you got to run
On heavy, heavy fuel.
- Oh the iron will and the 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- Iron Hand
- I can see what you're looking to find
In the smile on my face
In my peace of mind
In my state of grace
I send what I can
To the man from the ministry
He's a part of heaven's plan
And he talks to me
Now I send what I can to the man
With the diamond ring- Ticket to Heaven
Kill to Get Crimson (2007)
editLyrics by Mark Knopfler
- I wonder if there's no forever
No walking hand in hand
Down a yellow brick road
To never never land
These days I get to where I'm going
Make it there eventually
Follow the trail of breadcrumbs
To where I'm meant to be ...
When I think about us
I see the picture that we made
The picture to remind us
True love will never fade. - I worked the rowdies and daytrippers
Now and then I think of you
Any which way we're all shufflin'
Forward in the queue
They'd like to move my operation
They'd like to get me off the pier
And I dream I'm on a steamer
Pullin' out of here
- MacIntyre's teaching us waltzing
Out on the gymnasium floor
McIntyre's out of the army
You'll be slippered if you get him wrong
McIntyre's din booms loud in the gym
And we've only got a little short song
We've only got a little short song - And it's one, two, three, two, two we're all a disgrace
McIntyre tore us apart
And we dance with ourselves when we'd all found a space
Waltzing with fear in our hearts- Secondary Waltz
- When it's pop goes the weasel
Let go of the easel
You don't want
This rickety rackety life
It's seat of the trousers
It's all sink or swim, son... - These are not my decisions
Flaming visions
Ringing expressions
The clamouring voice
It's volcanic desire
The unquenchable fire
It isn't a question
Of having the choice
Anyway, now I'm old
But if you won't be told
If you've been created
To answer the call
All passion and lust
Is going to end in the dust
But you'll hang on some
Government gallery wall - You must go, forget it
Let it all go, let it all go
Go, forget it, let it all go- Let it all go
- Are you home from the sea, my soul balladeer
You've been away roaming far away from here
weathered a storm, your heart unafraid
crossed every ocean in the boat that you made....
You're a light in the dark, a beacon of hope
and strong as a sea boat, strong as a rope.
And the vagabond wind, whispers over the bay
and the songs and the laughter, are carried away in the sky.
