It Never Rains

[Banjo99uk]

I read recently on the web that It Never Rains (which would easily make my list of top 10 DS songs) was about MK's experience of recording with Bob Dylan.  Can anyone here confirm or deny this? 

[sweetsurrender]

I love this song !! Great guitar solo.

[Pottel]

mine too, would love to hear this story...

[Love Expresso]

Funny enough, I also thought about a connection of this song with Bob Dylan. But I somehow remember an interview where I read that Bob had given some written songs to MK as a gift - and I somehow remember someone saying that It Never Rains was one of them. But that is all long years ago, and I might remember it wrong. I really do not think that MK has taken Bobs lyrics to make them his own, but somehow It Never Rains is an absolutely untypical Knopfler song. But on the other hand: The whole Love Over Gold album is totally untypcial MK.  I think he himself would confirm this.

LE

[Tally]

Industrial Disease has some Dylanesque touches lyricwise, never thought of INR though. It's a nasty song.

[Jules]

I would say that it has to be with Dylan is the song was written after the Infidels Sessions, in which MK had problems with Dylan producing the record, as he had to leave that sessions with many tracks finished and the record tracks selected to attend some Dire Straits tour dates, and later he found out that Dylan produced again many of that tracks and changed many of the previously selected tracks.

[Tally]

A brief look at the lyrics lends some credibility to the idea that this song is about Dylan (but certainly not crafted by him).

"I hear the seven deadly sins and the terrible twins came to call on you" may reflect Dylan's Christian period. The sins are pretty clear, how about the twins?

But the rest of the lyrics are, to say the least, ambiguous. It seems to be directed at a woman. And Dylan could hardly be described as being on his way up, right?

Any more thoughts on this?

[superval99]

According to Mike Oldfield's biography, (also referred to in Myles Palmer's unauthorized biography), "It Never Rains", along with R & J and LOG were about Mark's affair with Holly Beth Vincent.  

[sweetsurrender]

superval, Is the unauthorized bio of MK a good book to get?  I enjoyed reading Mike Oldfield book on  DS.

[superval99]

Hi Sweetsurrender,  I enjoyed reading it very much and there are some good pictures, but there are many inaccuracies and IMO it's obvious that Myles Palmer wasn't a fan!  

[ds1984]

It Never Rains is my fave from the LOG album and in my top 5 Knopfler song.

About the book by Palmer, the problm is that MK close circle refused to give help so Miles had to look for other people.

I could say that this is not the best book about MK/DS but for that it should have other well documented book on the subject, but there aren't. Actualy what you get is the best possible material you can get about MK.

Ten years or so after reading it [I bought it in UK at the time of release] I have almost forgoet everything in it but one thing : Dave Pask interview is gold and worth the purchase (at low price). Remember that this man do own private live recording of Caf

[dustyvalentino]

I remember Q Magazine's review of this book, "Not so much unauthorised, more unauthored."

Good line, and it's pretty much true. Palmer cobbles together bits and pieces from old interviews and interviews a few people with fairly tenuous links to MK. As already mentioned, the stuff with Pask is quite funny, but it's clear that Palmer has no interest in MK whatsoever. After researching MK for ages he eventually gets to go to a DS concert and he leaves the show in the middle to go for a beer!

A few rare pics in it too so worth having if it's cheap but don't pay too much for it and take it with a pinch of salt, I don't trust Palmer at all and any of it could just be made up.

And I really don't see how It Never Rains could be about Dylan.

[ds1984]

I have found the copy you must own : here

[sweetsurrender]

I've seen this book on ebay.  Guess I have to brush up my Japanese.  I used to live in Japan for a good number of years.  Maybe I can get some of my Japanese friends to translate it for me.  But then for $93. It's a little bit steep.  I think I'll stick with Mike Oldfield book on DS that I've already owned.  Would love to get the unauthorized bio of MK one too.

[abarroscomuy]

Hi, i've got this crazy idea....

I just get known of the Gibbons Twins history (thanks BBC News) ... and saw the newspaper photo included, it should be from 1980 or so.

Then, i think i've found the mysterious "Terrible Twins". https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/67eb/live/2bbc0e10-a63b-11ee-bb5f-23a68014f756.jpg

Any thougths?

Abarros.