Roll on Geordie Boy, roll

As most people I'm acquainted with already know, I am a devotee of Mark Knopfler. Apart from his amazing guitar work and his voice, he is also an amazing live performer. The way he interacts with the audience and the fellow musicians while on stage is an example of a Zen state-of-mind where the music and the musician are one. He makes genius seem so effortless and that is where he can truly connect and make your world worries just drop off by the wayside.

One of his least acclaimed talents is his song-writing. Mark writes about ordinary things, events and people. Autograph hunters, Circus freaks, Shoe salesmen, Migrant labourers, Truck drivers, Beat cops, Hookers, Junkies, Tattoo artists, Has-been war veterans and so many other commonplace themes. These are people which make up the real world and only Mark has the ability to find poetry and music in them.

On the other hand, he also writes about forgotten legends and historical events. Napoleon's defeat, The Mason-Dixon line, Imelda Marcos, Sonny Liston, Ray Kroc, Elvis Presley, Lonnie Donegan, etc. Each of these people and events were important contributors to the shaping of the world and have somewhere been forgotten down the line.

And then there are the songs which are pure emotion. It would be a pity to call them 'love-songs' because they are a lot more than that. They rise above that genre in their depth and pathos that they portray and evoke.

Here are just some of his lines that I have grown to love over the years.

This empty kitchen's where
I'd while away the hours
Just next to my old chair
You'd usually have some flowers
The shelves of books
Even the picture hooks
Everything is gone
But my heart is hanging on

- A place where we used to live; The Ragpicker's Dream.

A song reminiscing about a broken marriage.


Around the time of 'Clambake'
that old dream's still rolling on
Sometimes there'll be the feeling
things are going wrong
The morning star is fading
lord, the mississippi's cold
You can still be Marlon Brando
and the king of rock and roll

- Back to Tupelo; Shangri-La.

A song about Elvis and his unfulfilled dream of becoming as big a movie star as he was a singer.


The lord is my shepherd
He leadeth me in pastures green
He gave us this day
Our daily bread and gasoline
Go under the willow
Park her up beside the stream
Shoulders for pillows
Lay down your head and dream
Shoulders for pillows
Lay down your head and dream

- Baloney Again; Sailing to Philadelphia.

A song about black evangelists and their unending struggle against racism in America in the 50s.


Well this crumpet’s past it’s sell-by-date
but they all would qualify
They’re going to be lonely
and be happy to comply
She knows that I’m a chancer
coming on like a gent
but I’m behind, behind
with the rent
Yes, I’m behind, behind
with the rent

- Behind with the rent; Kill to get crimson.

A song about a war veteran struggling to cope with his life.


Well we build it up and I buy 'em out
but, man they made me grind it out, now
they open up a new place flipping meat
so I do too, right across the street
I got the name I need the town
they sell up in the end and it all shuts down
sometimes you gotta be an s.o.b.
you wanna make a dream reality
Competition? Send 'em south
If they're gonna drown put a hose in their mouth
do not pass 'GO', go straight to hell
I smell that meat hook smell
or my name's not Kroc, that's Kroc with a 'K'
like 'crocodile' but not spelt that way, now
it's dog eat dog rat eat rat
Oh, it's dog eat dog rat eat rat
Kroc-style - boom, like that

- Boom, like that; Shangri-La.

A song about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's. He was also a ruthless capitalist who unethically took over a mom-and-pop diner and made it a world-wide brand, while driving them out of business.
 
 
Just like a castaway
Lost upon an endless sea
I saw you far away
Come to rescue me

- Darling Pretty; Golden Heart.
 
A love-song.
 
 
I pray for her who prays for me
A safe return to my belle France
We prayed these wars would end all wars
In war we know is no romance
And I pray our child will never see
A little Corporal again
Point toward a foreign shore
Captivate the hearts of men

Save my soul from evil, Lord
And heal this soldier's heart
I`ll trust in thee to keep me, Lord
I`m done with Bonaparte

- Done with Bonaparte; Golden Heart.
 
A song about a soldier in Napoleon's army which was routed in Russia.
 
 
My heart beats for my streets and alley
Longs to dwell in the borderlands
The North-East shore and the river valleys
Fare thee well Northumberland
I may not stay, I'm bound for leaving
I'm bound to ramble and to roam
I only say my heart is grieving
I would not gamble on my coming home

- Fare thee well, Northumberland; The Ragpicker's Dream.
 
A song about a migrant labourer from the northern provinces of England.
 
 
And every time I'm thinking of you from a distant shore
And all the time I sleep
I will have a reminder that my baby wore
A part of you to keep
And I'll send you all my promises across the sea
And while we are apart
I will carry the wonder that you gave to me
I'll wear your golden heart
I'll wear your golden heart

- Golden Heart; Golden Heart.
 
A song about a casual romance in a carnival fair.
 
 
She's going shopping shopping for shoes
She wants them in magenta and caribbean blue
Platinum and buttercup lilac and black
They fill a bucket up and laugh behind her back
Imelda baby Imelda baby what to do
All the poor people saying that they gotta quit paying for you

- Imelda; Golden Heart.

A song on Imelda Marcos and her extravagance exemplified by her fetish for footwear.


The chisels are calling, it's time to make sawdust
Steely reminders of things left to do
Monteleone, a mandolin's waiting for you

My fingerplane's working, gentle persuasion
I bend to the wood and I coax it to sing
Monteleone, your new one and only will ring

- Monteleone; Get Lucky.

A song about Monteleone, the legendary guitar maker.


Now some were grown up unlike me
And were dealing with reality
I was spittin' sulkin' smokin' shirkin'
While a lady from Jamaica was singing and working

I had everyone but me to blame
And every day was just the same
Well nobody ever said it was a righteous world
But if they did they never said it like a Southsea girl

- No can do; Golden Heart.

A song about a youth having to do odd jobs to make ends meet while chasing a dream.


Now I wish you sunny skies
And happiness wherever you may go
But you got to realise
There'll be wind, there'll be rain
And occasional snow

You're gonna want to smile in them
If you're gonna walk a mile in them
There'll be times when you`ll be blue
To laugh at rainy days and then
Make your getaways in them
You're gonna need a quality shoe

- Quality Shoe; The Ragpicker's Dream.
 
A song about a shoe salesman trying his hand at philosophy.
 
 
Rudiger waits at the hall in Berlin
He waits there all night
Security's tight
They know who he is but they don't let him in

Rudiger waits in the dark by the stair
His fingers are shaking
His feet they are aching
But your name's in the paper so Rudiger's there

- Rudiger; Golden Heart.
 
A song about Rudiger, the avid autograph-hunter who leads an uneventful life otherwise.
 
 
A silver dawn steals over the docks
A truck with no wheels up on the cinderblocks
Men with no dreams around a fire in a drum
Scrap metal schemes rusted over and done

- Silvertown Blues; Sailing to Philadelphia.

A song about a forgotten scrapyard on the verge of redevelopment.


They pull off her cables and hack off her hatches
Too poor to be wasteful with pity or time
They swarm on her carcass with torches and axes
Like a whale on the bloody shoreline

- So far from the Clyde; Get Lucky.

A song about a proud ship built in Clyde in England being broken in a ship-wrecking yard far away in India.


They never could be sure about the day he was born
A motherless child set to working on the farm
And they never could be sure about the day he died
The bear was the king they cast aside

- Song for Sonny Liston; Shangri-La.

A song about the life and death of Sonny Liston, the legendary and controversial boxer.


Well the Brickyard's there to crucify anyone who will not learn
I climbed the mountain to qualify went flat through the turn
But I was down in the might-have-beens and an old pal good as died
And I sat down in Gasoline Alley and I cried

- Speedway at Nazareth; Sailing to Philadelphia.

A song about a racing car driver in the racing season of 2001


Dark is the night
I need a guiding light to keep me
From foundering on the rocks
My only prayer is just to see you there
At the end of my wandering
Back in the dock

- The Trawlerman's Song; Shangri-La.

A song about a fisherman.


I don't know what brought you to me
That was up to you
There's so many come to see me
Who want their own tattoo

I fixed a needle in the holder
Laid my hand upon your spine
And there upon your shoulder
I drew the picture as your sign

When I think about us
I see the picture that we made
The picture to remind us
True love will never fade

- True love will never fade; Kill to get crimson.

A song about a tattoo artist finding and losing the love of his life.


So that's Mark for you. Ordinary lives, ordinary themes and extraordinary poetry!