Mark's songwriting

[Robson]

Hi all

Romeo And Juliet --- William Shakespeare:

[Pyroaction]

The theme of "The Fish And The Bird" is exactly the same as the 1966 song "Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau" from Juliette Gr

[superval99]

Apart from it being about a fish and a bird, who love eachother, I don't really see too much similarity in either the lyric or the musical theme.    

[Love Expresso]

My French isn't good enough to read the lyrics above (in fact I have NO French at all  ), but however this song is from 1966, and Richard Powers' novel is from 2003. And it is very clear that MK related to the story of the book, and that the fish and the bird were only meant as a picture for different "life domains". In the book it goes about coloured persons and jewish persons in the 1960's, and about the difficulties to get a life together in a world full of anti-semitism, racism and hatred.

Great list, Robbie! Funnily enough I know Edward St. Aubyn of course, but did not have the idea that he was meant with "Edward Snorburn". Snorburn is the way it is written in every single released and online version of the STP press kit, so maybe the interview was done by ear, or the interviewer was not brave enough to ask MK after the correct spelling of the author's name! 

LE

[superval99]

Here s the lyric, courtesy of Google!  Not translated by me!   

A small fish, a little bird
Loved each other tender
But how
When you're in the water
A small fish, a little bird
Loved each other tender
But how
When you're up there

When you're up there
Lost in the hollows of the clouds
You look down to see
His love swimming
And we would like to change
During the journey
Its wings into flippers
Trees in diving
The sky in bathtub

Refrain

A small fish, a little bird
Loved each other tender
But how
When you're up there
A small fish, a little bird
Loved each other tender
But how
When you're in the water

When you're in the water
We want the coming storm
Who would make the sky
Much more than a message
That could at once
Change during the trip
Feathers Scale
Wings in sweater
Algae straw.
 

[Love Expresso]

Hey, Thank you very much, Val! 

Now everything is totally clear to me!   

LE

[superval99]

Although it was inspired by the Richard Powers book, I think, perhaps, it was a bit personal too.   MK's mother, a Geordie, marrying his father, a Hungarian Jew.    

[mr2bur]

Wow, some great responses. Thanks

Some others:

If This Is Goodbye - Only Love And Then Oblivion - Ian McEwan
The Car Was The One - The Unfair Advantage - Mark Donohue

I'm also sure there are other examples out there. Anyone?

[Rollergirl]

Apart from it being about a fish and a bird, who love eachother,

well, that's quite enough to call the themes similar me thinks?!

[cheetahpilot]

I may be too late to this discussion, but found it via google and registered so I could leave a response.

So Far From The Clyde is a very emotional song for me.  I had never even heard of the river Clyde or the great shipyards that once thrived there.  The music itself drew me in.  And the beauty of MKs poetry is how skillfully he suggests a thing without actually saying it.  Anthropomorphism is giving human attributes to things not human, and he accomplishes this at a high level in this song.  I sense what the writer wanted me to sense when hearing it.  The ship itself cannot speak.  Her builders were paid for their skillful work long ago, and those shipyards no longer even offer their sons the same opportunity to use their hands like they did back then.  The captain's #1 job for the life of this ship was to keep her hull from touching ground.  Now he must give the wheel over to the man who will intentionally direct her to shore at high tide, never to go to sea again.  Not even a proper dry dock.  The workers who will finish her off are not capable of sensing what a pity this unceremonious end actually is.  They earn 44 cents per hour.  I feel foolish for feeling what I feel for a big steel machine, and for the men who built her.  But feel it I do.  THAT is the genius of Mark Knopfler.

 

[Lis]

Thanks for posting cheetahpilot and welcome to AMIT

And thank you for resurrecting this thread; I hadn't read it before, and enjoyed reading everyone's earlier posts.   I really love the various interpretations of Mark's songwriting, and truly welcome this discussion.  For my own part, I noticed that Mark, in his later work, tends to write songs that appear "simpler" at first blush, often with more repetition and typically fewer words; yet they still convey deep, multi-dimensional stories.  He has become more efficient is in his writing style, so to say.   

[McDeb]

Well, am I glad I was browsing and found this thread! Like Lis said, cheetahpilot, thank you for posting on this thread. To me, this is the important stuff - I'm so glad Mr. Knopfler's fans like to discuss his work, because that's what it's really all about, isn't it (although, OK, I do envy those of you guys that have actually met him!). Cheetahpilot, that was a wonderful post about "So Far from the Clyde" - I had just mentioned in another post that that one brings tears to my eyes. The first time I listened to it, I hadn't realized what it was going to be about, and the lyrics just snuck up on me. It's so clear that these songs are carefully crafted by a man with great powers of observation, a deep sense of history and a love of language (which isn't surprising, given his early days as a reporter and a teacher). I rather like that he prefers not to expound on the songs' meanings very much, purposely wanting to leave it to the listener to find the meaning - which, like Lis said, can be multi-layered. All that and a singing guitar, too ...

[Mona Dee]

 For me as a German, translating the MK songs (especially the solo work, because I

[McDeb]

Not to worry, Mona Dee - as an American, I'm sometimes stopped by the British vernacular. (You might have heard someone once said, "The United States and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language.") I'm liking "Hard Shoulder" more every time I listen to it - but I had to look up what a "slip road" was! Turns out it's what we would call an on-ramp or off-ramp to a freeway. "Hard shoulder" itself is a play on words: the shoulder of the road (the bit off the paved part) is where you would pull off in an emergency, such as your vehicle breaking down - in this case, a man who seems to be a general contractor or handyman who is starting to break down, himself, pulls over because he's about to cry. There's also the phrase in both American and British English about crying on someone's shoulder - so this is a lovely play on words: The man's crying on a shoulder - but it's the shoulder of the road, not a friend's shoulder. The beginning of the song, where the mops are, is mainly just a list of the stuff he's got on his truck: the tools of the trade. Don't know if that answers any of your questions, but it's so fun to discuss the lyrics!

[Mona Dee]

Thank you McDeb, your explanation helps alot to understand it better. Sometimes it is really difficult for me as a German to understand all his plays on words. I love the song, too, just because of the melody, but it is much better with understanding the lyrics  !