Single Handed Sailor lyrics

[Brunno Nunes- (Universo Dire Straits)]

Hello guys

I would like to start a debate about this wonderful song from the second album - Communique.

Single Handed Sailor

Two in the morning, dry-dock town
The river rolls in the night
Little gypsy moth, she's all tied down
She quivers in the wind and the light

Yeah, and a sailing ship is just held down in chains
From the lazy days of sail
She's just a-lying there in silent pain
He lean on the tourist rail

A mother and her baby and the college of war
In the concrete graves
You never want to fight against the river law
Nobody rules the waves
Yeah, and on a night when the lazy wind is a-wailing
Around the Cutty Sark
The single-handed sailor goes sailing
Sailing away in the dark

He's upon the bridge on the self same night
The mariner of dry-dock land
Two in the morning, but there's one green light
And a man on a barge of sand

She's gonna slip away below him
Away from the things he's done
But he just shouts "Hey man, what you call this thing?"
He could have said "Pride of London"
On a night when the lazy wind is a-wailing
Around the Cutty Sark
Yeah, the single-handed sailor goes sailing
Sailing away in the dark

Whereas:

1- The "dry-dock town" is Greenwich in London and the river is the Thames.

2. The "Little Gypsy Moth" is Sir Francis Chichester's Gipsy Moth IV in which he circumnavigated the globe single handedly. It is in Greenwich.

3- Cutty Sark is a British clipper ship that is also in Greenwich.

4- It is known that at the time Knopfler wrote this song, the Gipsy Moth IV was in a dry dock at Greenwich "she's all tied down", "a sailing ship just held down in chains" and slowly rotting away in quite a poor "I leaned on the tourist trail". "I leaned on the tourist tra. ".

5- Do you agree that there is a metaphor in the line, "A mother and her baby and the college of war", reference to the big Cutty Sark and the baby Gypsy Moth, right outside the Naval College of War? In particular, I believe it makes more sense to think that way.

6- The characters in the second verse: This second part is still dark for me, there are two characters: First- "He's upon the bridge on the self same night" (The mariner of dry-dock land) and second- And a man on a barge of sand. When "she's gonna slip away below him" and then the mariner of dry-dock land shouts "Hey man, what do you call this thing?" ... How do you see these two characters? I heard that Chichester hated the boat ("hey man, what do you call this thing") and said 'Gipsy Moth IV has no sentimental value for me' it for 1 pound. Interesting ... Knopfler's voice sounds a bit sarcastic to me in the line "He could have said 'Pride of London'". I do not hink it refers to the real-life river boat that trickyelf mentioned, it sounds more like some kind of comment about futility. I'd agree "mother and child" is a metaphor for the big Cutty Sark and the small Gypsy Moth.


What do you think about the lyrics of this song, as well as it fits the melody that the band does? 

[Brunno Nunes- (Universo Dire Straits)]

I saw these two points of view and found it curious.

"I've seen this song being described as a tribute to Francis Chichester and around the world sailing etc, etc. But I think the references to the Gypsy Moth (and the Cutty Sark) are just scene setting by Knopfler. about the stowaway, a woman escaping an abusive relationship. 'The woman being' the mother and her baby in the college of war 'The man she is escaping being' the mariner of dry dock land, 'whose relationship with her is presumably built on 'a barge of sand' and who happens to be 'up on the bridge on the self same night' as she slips away below him, 'away from the things he has done' The irony of the song is that the Sailor isn 't single handed at all. The only question in my mind is does she know she's on board? "


"The lyrics are enigmatic and he does use metaphor, he's also skipping over some key moments of what is going on. The second verse could be about a desperate and drunk man (" Hey man, what's your name? ironically sloshed line, especially in the middle of the night) who feels that he's a failure and jumps off the bridge into the river ("away from the things he's done"). scene to be in the Docks area, but also opening up a slew of sailing / river imagery. "

[Love Expresso]

"He's upon the bridge on the self same night" .. this bridge is the bridge of command, on the Gypsy Moth, and HE is the Single Handed Sailor, or his ghost from the past, to be more precise. The barge of sand lonesomely slips away below him, with the man on it, it slips away from him and his history, it's just a prosaic barge, in contrast to the great history of the Mother and the baby. It's a sad and deserted place, whereas it should better be a great monument for human boldness.

To me, it's the same kind of "ghost" that MK mentioned when talking about the lyrics of "What It Is".  It shows the great history, now set in stone, in a concrete grave, facing the nowaday's routined and careless world. It's about the past and the dreams and efforts of the past, about what the single handed sailor really boldly did, and now the testimony, the ship, remains rotten and forgotten.

Nothing about a man and a woman really. More the same kind of metaphor as in "So Far From The Clyde".

The music really hits spectacularly well the atmosphere, the howling wind, the maritime air and the loneliness of the place. I was there once in 1998 and was underwhelmed when seeing it, thinking, so, that's it? Really? Also the way the solo plays out and blends into Follow Me Home is also really of great skill. You can
literally see the Single Handed Sailor sailing away in the dark.

LE
 

[Stanko]

I love this take LE!
 

[kaleo74]

A great song, love it, always thought it sounds like Bee Gees song "Staying alive" with it groovy guitar.

Thank you for your interpretation of the lyrics, it's in the spirit of Mark's writing, his love and respect for sailors and the world of the sea.