Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of classic rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s. In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down the amps so that patrons could converse while the band played — indicative of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful.
Dire Straits chose their name mainly due to the financial conditions the four band members were in at the time.
Sultans of Swing
Sultans of Swing” was the first single release of the British rock band Dire Straits. It was first recorded as a demo, and quickly acquired a following after it was put in the rotation at Radio London. It did not take long for the popularity to find its way to record executives, and Dire Straits were offered a contract with Phonogram, a British record company. The song was then re-recorded and released in both the United Kingdom and the United States, though the demo version remained on the original UK Vertigo single. It entered the American music pop charts in early-1979. Unusually, the success of this single release came more than six months after the relatively unheralded release of the band’s debut album in October of 1978; the song reached the top 10 in both the UK and the U.S., and helped drive sales of the album, which also became a hit.
http://djallyn.org/media/Dire_Straits-SultansofSwing.flv
You get a shiver in the dark
It’s raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowin’ Dixie double four time
You feel alright when you hear that music ring
And now you step inside but you don’t see too many faces
Comin’ in out of the rain you hear the jazz go down
Competition in other places
Oh but the horns they blowin’ that sound
Way on down south, way on down south London town
You check out Guitar George, he knows all the chords
Mind he’s strictly rhythm he doesn’t wanna make it cry or sing
Yes and an old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing
And Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t make the scene
He’s got a daytime job, he’s doin’ alright
He can play the honky tonk like anything
Savin’ it up for Friday night
With the Sultans… with the Sultans of Swing
And a crowd of young boys they’re fooling around in the corner
Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and their platform soles
They don’t give a damn about any trumpet playing band
It ain’t what they call rock and roll
And the Sultans… yeah the Sultans play Creole
And then the man he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last just as the time bell rings
‘Goodnight, now it’s time to go home’
And he makes it fast with one more thing
‘We are the Sultans… We are the Sultans of Swing’
- Audio from the 1978 album, Dire Straits:
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Dire Straits
Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of classic rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s. In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down the amps so that patrons could converse while the band played — indicative of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful.
Dire Straits chose their name mainly due to the financial conditions the four band members were in at the time.
Ride Across the River
“Ride Across the River”, “The Man’s too Strong” and “Brothers in Arms” are lyrically focused on the guerrilla wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua of the 1980s. The title of the album was inspired by a conversation in which Knopfler’s father remarked, “We shouldn’t be at war with our brothers in arms.” This conversation is said to have taken place at the time of the Falklands War, though Mark Knopfler has denied the two have a direct link.
“Ride Across the River” is built on an off-beat rhythm. The song uses immersive Latin American rain forest imagery, accompanied by pan flute and eerie background noises, to allude to the elements of guerilla warfare.
http://djallyn.org/media/dire-straits_ride-across-the-river.flv
I’m a soldier of freedom in the army of man
We are the chosen, we’re the partisan
The cause it is noble and the cause it is just
We are ready to pay with our lives if we must
Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side
I’m a soldier of fortune, I’m a dog of war
And we don’t give a damn who the killing is for
It’s the same old story with a different name
Death or glory, it’s the killing game
Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side
Nothing gonna stop them as the day follows the night
Right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right
And they sing as they march with their flags unfurled
Today in the mountains, tomorrow the world
Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side
- Audio from the 1985 album, Brothers in Arms:
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Dire Straits
Memorial Day, May 25, 2009
This song has always brought tears to my eyes.
Just close your eyes and reflect. May they rest in peace.
Brothers in Arms
http://djallyn.org/media/brothers_in_arms.flv
These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms
Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve witnessed your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms
There’s so many different worlds
So many differents suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones
Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But its written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms
- Audio from the 1985 album, Brothers in Arms:
Tagged as:
Dire Straits
Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of classic rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s. In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down the amps so that patrons could converse while the band played — indicative of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful.
Dire Straits chose their name mainly due to the financial conditions the four band members were in at the time.
Money For Nothing
The song’s lyrics are written from the point of view of a blue-collar worker watching music videos and commenting on what he sees. To achieve the effect of such a layman making such casual everyday commentary, Dire Straits’ lead singer and songwriter Mark Knopfler used a vocal style known as Sprechstimme.
Knopfler described the writing of the song in a 1985 interview with critic Bill Flanagan:
“The lead character in “Money for Nothing” is a guy who works in the hardware department in a television/custom kitchen/refrigerator/microwave appliance store. He’s singing the song. I wrote the song when I was actually in the store. I borrowed a bit of paper and started to write the song down in the store. I wanted to use a lot of the language that the real guy actually used when I heard him, because it was more real.”
http://djallyn.org/media/money_for_nothing.flv
I want my MTV
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 your 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
We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV’s
(See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy that’s his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he’s a millionaire)
Gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
Gotta move these colour TV’s
I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin’ in the camera
Man we could have some
And he’s up there, what’s that? Hawaiian noises?
Bangin’ on the bongoes like a chimpanzee
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Get your money for nothin’ get your chicks for free
We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchens deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV’s
Look a’ here
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on your MTV
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Look at that, look at that
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
I want my, I want my, I want my MTV
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
(Fade)
I want my, I want my, I want my MTV
Tagged as:
Dire Straits
Dire Straits was a British rock band, formed in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (guitar and vocals), his brother David Knopfler (guitar), John Illsley (bass), and Pick Withers (drums), and subsequently managed by Ed Bicknell. Although the band was formed in an era when punk rock reigned, Dire Straits worked within the conventions of classic rock, albeit with a stripped-down sound that appealed to modern audiences weary of the overproduced stadium rock of the 1970s. In their early days, Mark and David requested that pub owners turn down the amps so that patrons could converse while the band played — indicative of their unassuming demeanor. Despite this oddly self-effacing approach to rock and roll, Dire Straits soon became hugely successful.
Dire Straits chose their name mainly due to the financial conditions the four band members were in at the time.
Skateaway
http://djallyn.org/media/skateaway.flv
I seen a girl on a one-way corridor
Stealin’ down a wrong-way street
For all the world like an urban toreador
She had wheels on her feet – on her feet
Well the cars do the usual dances
Same old cruise and the curbside crawl
But the rollergirl – she’s takin’ chances
Just love to see her take them on
No fears, alone at night – she’s sailing through the crowd
In her ears the phones are tight and the music’s playin’ loud
Hallelujah – here she comes – Queen Roller Ball
Enchante – what can I say? Carry on
You know she used to have to wait around
She used to be the lonely one
But now that she been skatin’ around town
She’s the only one
No fears, alone at night – she’s sailing through the crowd
In her ears the phones are tight and the music’s playin’ loud
She gets rock n roll, from the rock n roll station
In a rock n roll dream
She’s making movies on location
She don’t know what it means
And the music make her wanna be the story
And the story was whatever was the song – what it was
Rollergirl – don’t worry
DJ play the movies – all night long
She tortures taxi drivers just for fun
She like to read their lips
Says: “Toro, toro, taxi – see ‘ya tomorrow my son – ”
She just let a big truck graze her hip
She got her own world in the city – yeah!
Ain’t that true – Lord I know -
She got her own world in the city
The city’s bein’ so… rude to her
Slippin’ and a-slidin’
Yeah, life’s a roller ball
Slippin’ and a-slidin’
Skateaway – that’s all
Skateaway
Shala shalay, hey hey, skateaway
She’s singin’ shala shalay, hey hey
Skateaway
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Dire Straits
Break