Mark Knopfler

[fox69]

"Song For Sonny Liston"

"Song For Sonny Liston"


So many mouths
To feed on the farm
Sonny was the second
To the last one born
His mamma ran away
And his daddy beat him bad
And he grew up wild
Good love he never had

He had a left
Like henry's hammer
A right like betty bamalam
Rode with the muggers
In the dark and dread
And all them sluggers
Went down like lead

Well he hung with the hoods
He wouldn't stroke the fans
But he had dynamite
In both his hands
Boom bam
Like the slammer door
The bell and the can
And the bodies on the floor

Beware the bear's in town
Somebody's money says
The bear's going down
Yeah, the bear never smiles
Sonny's going down
For miles and miles
Sonny's going down
For miles and miles

The writers didn't like him
The fight game jocks
With his lowlife backers
And his hands like rocks
They didn't want to have
A bogey man
They didn't like him
And he didn't like them

Black cadillac
Alligator boots
Money in the pockets
Of his sharkskin suits
Some say the bear
Took a flop
They couldn't believe it
When they saw him drop

He had a left
Like henry's hammer
A right like betty bamalam
Rode with the muggers
In the dark and dread
And all them sluggers
Went down like lead

Joe Louis was his hero
He tried to be the same
But a criminal child
Wears a ball and chain
So the civil rights people
Didn't want him on the throne
And the hacks and the cops
Wouldn't leave him alone

Beware the bear's in town
Somebody's money says
The bear's going down
Yeah, the bear never smiles
Sonny's going down
For miles and miles
Sonny's going down
For miles and miles

At the foot of his bed
With his feet on the floor
There was dope in his veins
And a pistol on the drawer
There was no investigation
As such
He hated needles
But he knew too much

Criss-crossed
On his back
Scars from his daddy
Like slavery tracks
The second-last child
Was the second-last king
Never again was it the same
In the ring

He had a left
Like henry's hammer
A right like betty bamalam
Rode with the muggers
In the dark and dread
And all them sluggers
Went down like lead

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

Beware the bear's in town
Somebody's money says
The bear's going down
Yeah, the bear never smiles
Sonny's going down
For miles and miles
Sonny's going down
For miles and miles

 

[fox69]

"Speedway At Nazareth"

"Speedway At Nazareth"


After two thousand came two thousand and one
To be the new champions we were there for to run
From springtime in Arizona 'til the fall in Monterey
And the raceways were the battlefields and we fought 'em all the way

Was at Phoenix in the morning I had a wake-up call
She went around without a warning put me in the wall
I drove Long Beach, California with three cracked vertebrae
And we went on to Indianapolis, Indiana in May

Well the Brickyard's there to crucify anyone who will not learn
I climbed the mountain to qualify went flat through the turns
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

Well we were in at the kill again on the Milwaukee Mile
And in June up in Michigan we were robbed at Belle Isle
Then it was on to Portland, Oregon for the G.I. Joe
And I'd blown off almost everyone when my motor let go

New England, Ontario we died in the dirt
Those walls from mid-Ohio to Toronto they hurt
So we came to Road America where we burned up at the lake
But at the speedway at Nazareth I made no mistake

 

[fox69]

"Stand Up Guy"

"Stand Up Guy"


Brew the coffee in a bucket
Double straight man and banjo
If you don't got the snake oil
Buster, you don't got a show
Who puts the doh-re-me
In our pockets
Keeps the party going on?
It's the man
Who sells the potions
I'm just one who plays the songs
Now they generally buys
The bigger size
They usually rub it in
I drank it once, it tasted
Like grease and paraffin
It's mostly alcohol, okay
You can't deny it's strong
We was going through the motions
'til the doctor came along

There stands the bottle
Ladies and gentlemen
All these bottles
Don't have to tell you, friends
These days miracles
Don't come falling from the sky
Raise your glasses to the doctor
To a stand up guy

When the monkeyshine is flying
And he's promising the cure
He says the french
For your lovesick blues
La maladie d'amour
He gets the chumps all laughing
But he gets a few to buy
Here's to beefsteak
When you're hungry
And whiskey when you're dry
Now the band'll blow their moolah
Like sailors gone ashore
Now we're going to west helena
To gamble, drink and whore
Let's you and me
All make whoopee
Here's mud in your eye
Here's to all the gals you ever want
And heaven when you die

There stands the bottle
Ladies and gentlemen
All these bottles
Don't have to tell you, friends
These days miracles
Don't come falling from the sky
Raise your glasses to the doctor
To a stand up guy

There's a big cheese with a cigar
Been sizing up the show
He wants to get the doctor
Pitching on the radio
I will make a switch to guitar
But the rules all still apply
They want to trust somebody
Yeah, they want a stand up guy

There stands the bottle
Here's to absent friends
All these bottles
Dead soldiers in the end
These days miracles
Don't come falling from the sky
Raise your glasses to the doctor
To a stand up guy
To the doctor
A stand up guy

 

[fox69]

"Storybook Love"

"Storybook Love"


Come my love, I'll tell you a tale
of a boy and girl and their love story
and how he loved her oh, so much,
and all the charms she did possess.

Now this did happen once upon a time
When things were not so complex.
And how he worshipped the ground she walked on.
When he looked in her eyes, he became obsessed.

My love is like a storybook story.
But it's as real as the feelings I feel.
My love is like a storybook story.
But it's as real as the feelings I feel;
it's as real as the feelings I feel

This love was stronger than the powers so dark,
A prince could have within his keeping;
His spells to weave and steal a heart
Within her breast, but only sleeping.

My love is like a storybook story.
But it's as real as the feelings I feel.
My love is like a storybook story.
But it's as real as the feelings I feel;
it's as real as the feelings I feel

He said, "Don't you know I love you oh, so much,
And lay my heart at the foot of your dress?"
She said, "Don't you know that storybook loves
Always have a happy ending?"

Then he swooped her up, just like in the books,
And on his stallion they rode away.

My love is like a storybook story.
But it's as real as the feelings I feel.
My love is like a storybook story.
But it's as real as the feelings I feel;
it's as real as the feelings I feel

 

[fox69]

"Sucker Row"

"Sucker Row"


Somebody's gotta crack
A whip around here
Who's minding the store?
Shake it up sell some beer
What's your
Money maker for?
Pay day
We're packin' 'em in
Six-gun Annie
And Buffalo Jill
But who's to say
They'll be back again
For a refill?
Honey, you know the drill
Ain't no left turn
Down sleepy time street
You gotta be fast
But you gotta stay loose
Thinking
On your feet
Slick as grass
Through a goose
We gotta
Rationalise
The payroll
Is giving me chills
You and me's
Getting organised
It's kill or be killed
Honey, you know the drill

Well they can all look down
On sucker row
But they all forget
The tallest trees
From acorns grow
Though they ain't yet
I never look down
On a sucker stake
They all pay the bills
I never gave a sucker
An even break
And I never will

A beautiful vision
Keeps coming to me
I see
A miracle mile
Flying in
For free
Service
With a smile
High rollers
Fancy hotels
Big time singers
Topping the bill
You gotta have a feel
For the stuff that sells
Call it a skill
Honey, you know the drill
Somebody's gotta crack
A whip around here
Who's
Minding the store?
Shake it up
Sell some beer
Money walking
Through the door
Annie's arriving
At a dangerous age
Don't you
Go getting ill
Get another woman
Up in the cage
Who ain't over the hill
Honey, you know the drill

 

[fox69]

"Sultans Of Swing"
(performed by Dire Straits)

"Sultans Of Swing"
(performed by Dire Straits)



You get a shiver in the dark
It's been raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowing Dixie double four time
You feel all right when you hear that music ring

You step inside but you don't see too many faces
Coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down
Too much competition too many other places
But not too many horns can make that sound
Way on downsouth way on downsouth London town

You check out Guitar George he knows all the chords
Mind he's strictly rhythm he doesn't want to make it cry or sing
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 doing alright
He can play honky tonk just like anything
Saving 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 played Creole

And then the man he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last just as the time bell rings
'Thank you goodnight now it's time to go home'
and he makes it fast with one more thing
'We are the Sultans of Swing'

 

[fox69]

"Summer Of Love"

"Summer Of Love"


Daddy says I'll never get the roadster
What does he know
I just can't make it here in Squaresville
Daddy-O
Pretty on the inside and the out
She's the ride I'm wild about
The only one I'm dreaming of
Summer of love

Daddy says I'll never get the roadster
What does he know
We drive to where the sky is wide
And the moon is low
When I shut her down the night feels cool
I tell her she's beautiful
A million stars all swarm above
Summer of love
Whoa, summer of love

Summer days hot and dry
Hot as firecrackers on the Fourth of July
Summer nights passing slow
Gas her up Daddy I'm ready to go

Daddy says I'll never get the roadster
What does he know
We drive to where the sky is wide
And the moon is low
When I shut her down the night feels cool
I tell her she's beautiful
A million stars all swarm above
Summer of love
Whoa, summer of love

 

[fox69]

"Tall Order Baby"

"Tall Order Baby"


Well gimme a little loving in the morning
I want a little loving [?]
But you want to get your loving in the evening
When I want to get some loving in the day

I tell her that I'm working in the morning
I tell her that I gotta get my rest
She tells me she's a-working on her loving
And she tells me that my loving is the best

Well it's a tall order baby
And it's a tall order now
Well it's a tall order baby
But we gotta get our loving somehow

Well I don't want to go to sleep on you baby
I don't want to go to sleep on you now
But if I'm going to go to sleep on you baby
Well I'm gonna do it any how

Well don't you turn your back on me darling
Don't you know I'd like to stay up and play
But if I turn my back on you darling
You're going to do it some other way

Well it's a tall order baby
And it's a tall order now
Well it's a tall order baby
But we gotta get our loving somehow

It's a tall order baby
Well it's a tall order now
Well it's a tall order baby
But we gotta get our loving somehow

Well I don't want to go to sleep on you baby
I don't want to go to sleep on you now
But if I'm going to go to sleep on you baby
Well I'm gonna do it any how

Well don't you turn your back on me darling
Don't you know I'd like to stay up and play
But if I turn my back on you darling
You're going to do it some other way

Well it's a tall order baby
And it's a tall order now
Well it's a tall order baby
But we gotta get our loving somehow

Well it's a tall order baby
And it's a tall order now
Well it's a tall order baby
But we gotta get our loving somehow

 

[fox69]

"Terminal Of Tribute To"

"Terminal Of Tribute To"


On the road again in cabaret
Grey hair and Fenders
Old ghosts revisited today
No original members

Pick out a pretty one and toss your hair
Seems foolish when you’re older
You always felt you never had your share
A chip on both your shoulders

You’ve been faking it so long
Now you don’t know right from wrong
Or what the future has in store for you
In the terminal of tribute to

Every day you take the bitter pill
The minibus driver says and you are who
You never made it and you never will
In the terminal of tribute to

Where your plans are forever falling through
And your dreams are movies never shot
And you’re someone, a shadow passing through
Nobody ever knew, so nobody forgot

Your bag has fallen from the carousel
They say one day it could come back to you
Exactly when nobody can tell
In the terminal of tribute to

You’ve been faking it so long
Now you don’t know right from wrong
Or what the future has in store for you
In the terminal of tribute to

You’ve been faking it so long
Now you don’t know right from wrong
Or what the future has in store for you
In the terminal of tribute to

 

[fox69]

"The Car Was The One"

"The Car Was The One"


In summer sixty three I was staying alive
Hanging at the races, hoping to drive
When they were done with the weekend and loading the cars
I couldn't get a pass so I went to the bar

I'm up in the corner nursing a beer
Who should come laughing and joking in here
But Bobby Brown, the winner of the sports car race
With some friends and a girl, man, she lit up the place

Bobby was a wild boy, one summer
He knocked down a motel wall with a hammer
He'd do anything, one night for a bet
He raced through the cornfields in a Corvette

I thought it's got to be a thrill to be like that
With the beautiful girl and be king of the track
But the truth is when all was said and done
It was his Cobra I wanted, the car was the one
It was his Cobra I wanted, the car was the one

The car was the one
The car was the one