A Mark In Time

Previous Albums => Sailing To Philadelphia (2000) => Topic started by: shangri la 1 on July 27, 2016, 07:09:11 AM

Title: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: shangri la 1 on July 27, 2016, 07:09:11 AM
(http://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=5122.0;attach=2311)
Speedway At Nazareth (Mark Knopfler)

LYRICS

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

CHORDS
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/mark_knopfler/speedway_at_nazareth_crd.htm

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=praUaqWWLyk
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: Pottel on March 06, 2017, 07:31:35 AM
anyone noticed how often Mark uses a signature line from the EC song Crossroads during the intro to Speedway? (i mean live)
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: Jules on March 06, 2017, 08:00:53 AM
Yes ;)
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: shangri la 1 on March 17, 2018, 04:29:39 AM
 :) Quite often. He seems to get into a certain head-space ("in the zone") before certain songs, where he seems to go back to a time and pluck something out from that time/space/event.
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: TheTimeWasWrong on October 21, 2020, 08:49:04 PM
After reading a post by dmg (https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=6902.msg140196#msg140196) in another topic, I dug up this 9-minute (!) version from the early part of the STP tour. Five minutes of outro, almost 2 minutes before MK hits that Les Paul and the noodling goes on. Interesting to hear how this song has evolved over the years, those early versions were so raw, but the built-up got better and better (2010/2013 are superb).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89T9MLDgd6I
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: TheTimeWasWrong on January 16, 2025, 01:52:10 PM
Little tidbit: In Helsingborg during the 2010 tour, he introduced the song by telling it's about a Swedish friend of his, probably referring to Stefan Johansson. I've never heard that before in any other live performance.
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: dustyvalentino on January 17, 2025, 02:56:36 PM
92 season seems to match up?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_PPG_Indy_Car_World_Series
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: wayaman on January 20, 2025, 09:57:31 AM
Quote from: dustyvalentino on January 17, 2025, 02:56:36 PM
92 season seems to match up?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_PPG_Indy_Car_World_Series

We know MK was trying a first version of Speedway with the British band (nick Lowe, Paul Carrack) titled Speedway TO Nazareth and that was around 1993 or 94 (considering that band recorded My Claim to fame for the Swan Hunter documentary) so probably it's that season the one mentioned in the song.
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: TheTimeWasWrong on February 08, 2025, 10:41:01 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/LOvoENU.jpeg)

From Keith Green (https://x.com/KeithsTweets/status/1292436819506794496):

Yes. I was the PR Director at Nazareth Speedway when Sailing to Philadelphia came out with Speedway at Nazareth on it. I managed to convince someone in the record label’s PR to have Mark visit the track before a gig in Philly. He was kind and gracious. Career highlight for me. [...] Thanks, it was such a great experience. When the album came out, I couldn’t believe that the song was about the track where I worked. It was a PR person’s dream, but it would not have mattered much if @MarkKnopfler and @SJohanssonF1 hadn’t been so generous with their time.
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: dustyvalentino on February 09, 2025, 01:04:45 AM
Quote from: TheTimeWasWrong on February 08, 2025, 10:41:01 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/LOvoENU.jpeg)

From Keith Green (https://x.com/KeithsTweets/status/1292436819506794496):

Yes. I was the PR Director at Nazareth Speedway when Sailing to Philadelphia came out with Speedway at Nazareth on it. I managed to convince someone in the record label’s PR to have Mark visit the track before a gig in Philly. He was kind and gracious. Career highlight for me. [...] Thanks, it was such a great experience. When the album came out, I couldn’t believe that the song was about the track where I worked. It was a PR person’s dream, but it would not have mattered much if @MarkKnopfler and @SJohanssonF1 hadn’t been so generous with their time.


Nice find!

I assume that’s an error and it should be Australia as opposed to Austria :)

https://youtu.be/XYZ6_n7Mpb0?si=E4Ou_Y6cm9vKejsW
Title: Re: (10) Speedway At Nazareth (6:23)
Post by: rmarques821 on February 24, 2025, 08:46:34 PM
Quote from: dustyvalentino on February 09, 2025, 01:04:45 AM
Quote from: TheTimeWasWrong on February 08, 2025, 10:41:01 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/LOvoENU.jpeg)

From Keith Green (https://x.com/KeithsTweets/status/1292436819506794496):

Yes. I was the PR Director at Nazareth Speedway when Sailing to Philadelphia came out with Speedway at Nazareth on it. I managed to convince someone in the record label’s PR to have Mark visit the track before a gig in Philly. He was kind and gracious. Career highlight for me. [...] Thanks, it was such a great experience. When the album came out, I couldn’t believe that the song was about the track where I worked. It was a PR person’s dream, but it would not have mattered much if @MarkKnopfler and @SJohanssonF1 hadn’t been so generous with their time.


Nice find!

I assume that’s an error and it should be Australia as opposed to Austria :)

https://youtu.be/XYZ6_n7Mpb0?si=E4Ou_Y6cm9vKejsW
Yes, I was going to pick-up on this. But Stefan says that Mark was touring at the time, and the Australian Grand Prix took place in October 1986, when the BIA tour finished in April 1986. And even if it were the Austrian one, that one took place in August 1986. So perhaps some lapse of memory from his side.