I’m finishing the week with my favorite Dire Straits song, the title track of Brothers in Arms. This is what I call a “hold your breath” song, because you kind of have to do that from start to finish.
I’m usually partial to the piano as my instrument of choice. I get off on the ivory acrobatics of Ben Folds and the sumptuous playing of Billy Joel and Elton John. But a guitar handled just the right way is tough to beat, and Knopfler’s guitar work on this song is unmatched.
Dire Straits’ 1985 album Brothers in Arms was their artistic and commercial highpoint. They released one other album (On Every Street in 1991) but it was pretty much an afterthought. Brothers in Arms, propelled by mega-hits ‘Money For Nothing‘ and ‘Walk of Life,’ sold more than 9 million copies in the U.S. and more than 13 million in the U.K.
It was also the first album to sell more than a million copies in the CD format, which was relatively new at the time. The compact disc of Brothers in Arms contained longer versions of several songs than their vinyl counterparts, and the digital mastering made it a must-have for early adopters.
For years I loved this song but had no idea what it was called. I figured the title was ‘Making Movies‘ because that phrase appears in the chorus and I knew that was the title of one of Dire Straits’ albums. But when I checked out the tracklist of the album I didn’t see a song with the name. And the actual title of the song — ‘Skateaway’ — shows up only a couple of times toward the end.
But without really knowing what it was, I’ve always been fond of the shuffling, spoken-word verses (very Dylan-esque, and indeed Mark Knopfler’s career has crossed paths with Dylan’s on several occasions) and the uplifting chorus.
The first Dire Straits album I owned was actually not a proper album at all, but the greatest hits collection Money for Nothing. I am resolutely anti-greatest hits — despite my ‘Song of the Day’ blog, I consider the album the principal unit of musical artistry. Money For Nothing was a bit different than most because it contained live and alternate versions of many of the songs, but it’s still just a little bit evil.
However, it did introduce me to one of the very best Dire Straits songs, the elegant and sadly romantic ‘Romeo and Juliet.’ I was blown away by this song the minute I heard it and it has remained a favorite ever since.
Thus far my theme weeks have covered artists I consider among my very favorites — people such as Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel. And there are more artists along those lines who I can (and will) cover.
But this week I’m taking a little detour and featuring a group I don’t know much about and who show up only twice in my CD collection.
So how did Dire Straits earn this distinction? Well, I’ve heard several of their songs on the radio in recent weeks and every time I boost the volume and think “Ah, here’s a song I need to feature on the blog.” And after saying that for three or four different songs, I thought I might as well take a week and do it.
