(04) Just a Boy Away from Home

[shangri la 1]

Just a Boy Away from Home  Mark Knopfler (5:12)
Ian Thomas, Drums
Robbie McIntosh, Guitar
Nigel Hitchcock, Tenor Saxophone
Glenn Worf, Bass Guitar
Mark Knopfler, Guitar, Vocals
Jim Cox, Organ
Tom Walsh, Trumpet
Danny Cummings, Percussion
associated performer - Oscar Hammerstein II

LYRICS

When I was just a boy I’d be kicking a tin
Take the short cut home through the loony bin
I never gave much thought to the souls in there
I was just a boy, too young to care

Well the years go by and you get to see
A dream’s not the same as reality
Well a dream or two is going to crash and burn
And that’s the way that you live and learn

Well it was late one night and I woke at two
And I lay there thinking the way you do
But it’s a long dark night of the soul
When those thoughts are turning sad and old

And then outside on the empty street
I heard the sound of walking feet
Well it was just a boy away from home
And he was singing the song ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’

© © 2018 Will D. Side Limited
℗ 2018 Will D. Side Limited

CHORDS: Just a Boy Away from Home - by quizzaciously
https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/mark_knopfler/just_a_boy_away_from_home_chords_2514432

[Jules]

There is further inspiration from close to home in “Just A Boy Away From Home,” which rose from a memory back home in Newcastle, when his father was in hospital after a heart attack.
“He was in Newcastle General, which as anyone from the Northeast of England will know is very close to the football ground. He was lying awake in the middle of the night feeling a bit sorry for himself, and he heard a lad walking on the deserted street outside singing ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’ Of course, he was a Liverpool fan and he’d been to the match—or who knows, he might have missed it somehow. But there he was in Newcastle singing his song. My dad found it inspiring, the spirit of it.” The track includes a full, stirring reprise of the famous melody. “It just felt good to play it on the slide,” says Mark. “I thought, ‘I’ve started, so I may as well finish.’ And it’s fun for the band to play.”

[Robson]

Another story that stimulates my imagination. It will be difficult to wait until November 16

[Love Expresso]

Coincidentally I was thinking about Mark's parents the other day (thinking about his sentence in Life In Songs that he had a good upbringing from both parents.) Without getting too private, do we know if both parents are still alive? His father's death gets connected with not playing Tunnel of Love anymore.  When did he die? And how about his Mother?

LE

[Jules]

Coincidentally I was thinking about Mark's parents the other day (thinking about his sentence in Life In Songs that he had a good upbringing from both parents. Without getting too private, do we know if both parents are still alive? His father's death gets connected with not playing Tunnel of Love anymore.  When did he die? And how about his Mother?

LE

I think his mother is still alive but I'm not sure. I recall when the Emmylou tour I saw somewhere a picture of MK and Emmy with their moms, but that was 12 years ago...

[superval99]

Coincidentally I was thinking about Mark's parents the other day (thinking about his sentence in Life In Songs that he had a good upbringing from both parents. Without getting too private, do we know if both parents are still alive? His father's death gets connected with not playing Tunnel of Love anymore.  When did he die? And how about his Mother?

LE

I think his mother is still alive but I'm not sure. I recall when the Emmylou tour I saw somewhere a picture of MK and Emmy with their moms, but that was 12 years ago...

When I saw David Knopfler 2 or 3 years ago, he spoke about visiting his mother and having a cup of tea together.   He made the audience laugh about her repeating the same things and having to be patient with her!      I would say that she's now in her 90s - if she's still alive.  I believe his father died in 1993.

[Dutchessy]

So we get the 'Your never walk alone' melody played on slide guitar

MK : “It just felt good to play it on the slide,”

[Jules]

So we get the 'Your never walk alone' melody played on slide guitar

MK : “It just felt good to play it on the slide,”

The damned slide!!!!! 

 

[border_reiver]

Yay! 

[Love Expresso]

I dare to predict that we will detect a little "Heart Full Of Holes" in this song, the polka part then replaced by You Never Walk Alone. It's so typical for Mark to get back to
certain styles with certain themes...

LE

[Robson]

A very interesting observation Love Expresso. Heart Full Of Holes is one of the most mysterious songs for me. These voices at the end... And one of the most beautiful texts he wrote

[TheTimeWasWrong]

A very interesting observation Love Expresso. Heart Full Of Holes is one of the most mysterious songs for me. These voices at the end... And one of the most beautiful texts he wrote

The first time I heard it I couldn’t stop crying, I don’t even listen to the song in public with headphones on because it gets me every time. It is a treasure, maybe the most special and touching song he ever recorded.

[Robson]

A very interesting observation Love Expresso. Heart Full Of Holes is one of the most mysterious songs for me. These voices at the end... And one of the most beautiful texts he wrote

The first time I heard it I couldn’t stop crying, I don’t even listen to the song in public with headphones on because it gets me every time. It is a treasure, maybe the most special and touching song he ever recorded.

  Exactly

I still don’t understand
why I ever survived to be old
with a heart full of holes...

[Stanko]

A very interesting observation Love Expresso. Heart Full Of Holes is one of the most mysterious songs for me. These voices at the end... And one of the most beautiful texts he wrote

The first time I heard it I couldn’t stop crying, I don’t even listen to the song in public with headphones on because it gets me every time. It is a treasure, maybe the most special and touching song he ever recorded.

the line is epic really! "why I ever survived to be old
with a heart full of holes" it just tells everything about the life for you (if you're a human being).
I still can stop myself from crying but who knows if there will be a change on that in the near future 

[Guitarman1972]

Rodgers and Hammerstein are credited for the song:
https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/mark-knopfler-announces-new-album-shares-good-on-you-son

Guess Mark has been listening to musicals alot for Local Hero. And it inspired him for this song.