(02) Sailing to Philadelphia (5:29)

[shangri la 1]

Sailing to Philadelphia (Mark Knopfler)

LYRICS

I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie Boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I’ll enjoy

All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
It was my fate from birth
To make my mark upon the earth…

He calls me Charlie Mason
A stargazer am I
It seems that I was born
To chart the evening sky

They’d cut me out for baking bread
But I had other dreams instead
This baker’s boy from the west country
Would join the Royal Society…

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line

Now you’re a good surveyor, Dixon
But I swear you’ll make me mad
The West will kill us both
You gullible Geordie lad

You talk of liberty
How can America be free
A Geordie and a baker’s boy
In the forest of the Iroquois…

Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware

Come up and feel the sun
A new morning is begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here…

We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line

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

 

[shangri la 1]

Concert Video:- Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario on May 3rd 2001 from DVD on La-knopflerTK tracker
 

[Knopflerfan]

Minding my own business with the radio on in the background and the sound of MK filled the room!!

I kid you not, but STP was Played on Radio 2 on the 'Steve Wright afternoon show' yesterday here in the UK on the 12th August 2021 to celebrate the occasion of MK's 72nd birthday!!

[qjamesfloyd]

I have heard this song many times on BBC Radio 2, I think it is a station favourite from Mark's solo songs.

[Knopflerfan]

I have heard this song many times on BBC Radio 2, I think it is a station favourite from Mark's solo songs.

First time I've heard it on Radio 2 to be honest but yes, I get that a few of the presenters are fans too...

[dustyvalentino]

Terry Wogan used to play this song all the time.

[Knopflerfan]

Terry Wogan used to play this song all the time.

Ah ok, that's interesting thanks Dusty.....I heae Ken Bruce is quite a fan of MK...

[qjamesfloyd]

Both Terry and Ken were fans.

[Jules]

BBC radio 2 plays the Sultans of swing version known as "alternative version" as it's the one from the single, not the one from the record.

[Knopflerfan]

BBC radio 2 plays the Sultans of swing version known as "alternative version" as it's the one from the single, not the one from the record.

Okey dokey, good to know....

[geordie_60]

I haven't posted on here for literally years but today I drove to the birthplace and home of Jeremiah Dixon today in Cockfield, County Durham, UK.
I'm a native of Newcastle and know most of the places and songs MK talks about in and around Newcastle, (I used to work on the Evening Chronicle as a photographer decades after MK was a copyboy) but this is a first for me and thought it might be of particular interest to Mark's US fans. Cheers everyone!

[Jules]

Very interesting post.

I think these places were shown in that documentary presented by MK about Jeremiah Dixon

[shangri la 1]

Very interesting post.

I think these places were shown in that documentary presented by MK about Jeremiah Dixon

Argree jbaent yes to both

[geordie_60]

Yes I've seen this. It was presented by a former BBC journalist in Newcastle whom I know.