Speedway To Nazareth root

[ds1984]

I wonder when SAN was really written.

I have been surprised to learn that SAN was from the OES area because it is known that Stefan Johansson inspired that song. So how an album recorded in 1990/1991 can be about someone whose Cart/Indycar career only started in...1992.

Some clue are given in the following article from 2001 but no explicite reference to actual OES recording. To my known SAN first recording attempt was for GH.

” The sung is about perseverance, aspiration and determination with a Champcar racing theme," the singer revealed, "Many of the tracks on the CART circuit are mentioned in the song, including Nazareth in the final verse.

“I actually wrote the song in the early 1990's,” Knopfler continued, “It was set ahead in time and that's why it refers to 2001 as being in the future. The song was born mostly out of conversations with my friend [former CART and Formula One driver] Stefan Johansson.”
“Mark and I met at the Austrian Grand Prix in 1986, when I was driving For Ferrari,” the Swede confirmed said, “He was touring at the time, and was in the celebrity race. I lived in London and so did he, and we stayed in contact and would get together when we were both in town.

“This place is beautiful,” Knopfler said, “It's pristine. But I imagine it could be quite a nightmare at times for the drivers. It looks difficult to drive - it has different banking and elevation changes and turn two never seems to end. It was great to come here to see the track that I wrote about.”

“Nazareth is a challenging track that brings out great racing,” Johansson agreed, “It has always been one of my favourites out of the ovals, and I have some great memories from racing there.”

Source (complete article) can be found here  : Rock legend Knopfler visits Nazareth

[dustyvalentino]

Good stuff, thanks.

[Lis]

Nice article -- thanks ds1984!! 

[Ar (aka Enlight)]

Thanks nice read.
i am sure the first line was written last .....how would it sound ??: After 1990 came 1990 and 1

[One Armed Bandit Man]

Looked up some old Q&A's regarding Speedway on Guy's forum, which puzzled me at the time. After reading this nice piece of information (thanks ds1984!) it becomes clear Guy wasn't pulling my leg (as I thought, back then)!

First a question from Mike, San Diego:
"So, Guy, what year was Speedway originally written? Curious because it took me a year to really love that song. Just wondering if it was early Mark or middle-aged MK."
Guy: "I would guess the mid 90's."

Then, my question:
"Dear Doc, your remark concerning Speedway puzzled me a bit. After all, if the song was written in the nineties, the first sentence seems a bit strange: "After two thousand CAME two thousand and one. To be the new champions, we WERE there for to run...". Were the opening lines different, before it was recorded for STP? If so, could you enlighten us on the original lyrics of Speedway at Nazareth?"
Guy responded briefly: "no, those were the lyrics"

[ds1984]

Mid nineties is the thing I would stick on although the song is a fantasy. I did, before being aware of that, some research trying to find what was the season described presuming it was put from real events.