The Boy EP (01) Mr Solomans Said

[Knopflerfan]

MR SOLOMONS SAID

One day Mr Solomons said
There was a little black cloud over your head
Anyway you’ve received a threat
Or so he understands
I’m a country lad but I see it too
How much it’s got to you
And now you’re slipping down
Into the shadowlands

My life’s the fighting game
I keep my cool, I stay the same
We never mind how bad it is
In fact we like all your
Showbiz shenanigans
And Jack wants to help you out
Is what it’s all about
With Mr Solomons

We like the flashbulbs, pop, pop, pop
All the razzamatazz
We like the big nights, the West End lights
And all of that jazz

And you can bet
Jack is never going back
To Frying Pan Alley
You can bet Jack is never going back
To Frying Pan Alley

He signed me as a prospect, see
Then something let go in my knee
But I’m no clapped out punchateer
Like some of the other ones
Promoting’s all about the gate
Information’s worth its weight
I’m the eyes and ears and it’s great
With Mr Solomons

Daytimes I’ll make the rounds
In every caff and every pub In this part of town
There’s a mug or a pug
And always someone blathering
It’s gossip calypso all day long
Who’s the money going on
Who’s been training wrong
Got hurt or struggling

Well I might have a couple with a cornerman
The one with the sponge and bucket
I’ve maybe got a bottle for a club doorman
Tickets for a waitress in my pocket

She said ‘It’s me or the ring, Jack’ years ago
So he swapped his gloves for Savile Row
Jack’s no pushover though
He likes that story told
Behind the pinstripe buttonhole
Behind the yellow rose
Beats a heart of gold

Now he’s got me something new
Which is to look out for you
I said, ‘I’d be happy to, Mr Solomons’
One day Mr Solomons said
‘London, son, we have got some hard pavements’
There’s more to the man than the motto read
On the wall above his head
‘Winners win, losers make their own arrangements’

You can bet Jack is never going back
To Frying Pan Alley
Yeah, you can bet Jack is never going back
To Frying Pan Alley
You can bet Jack is never going back
To Frying Pan Alley
Yeah, you can bet Jack is never going back
To Frying Pan Alley

Guitars, Vocals: Mark Knopfler
Acoustic Guitar: Richard Bennett
Pedal Steel: Greg Leisz
Synths: Guy Fletcher
Piano: Jim Cox
Upright Bass: Glenn Worf
Drums: Ian ‘Ianto’ Thomas
Percussion: Danny Cummings
Backing Vocals: Emma Topolski, Tamsin Topolski

A history of Israel Jacob 'Jack' Solomans
https://jacksolomons.com/history/

[Robson]

I like the echoes of the fair at the beginning very much. Great song.

[Knopflerfan]

I like the echoes of the fair at the beginning very much. Great song.

Amazing, and those sounds create a lovely little atmosphere to the tune

[Robson]

I like the echoes of the fair at the beginning very much. Great song.

Amazing, and those sounds create a lovely little atmosphere to the tune

Exactly!

[Rail King]

I like the echoes of the fair at the beginning very much. Great song.

I like the song a lot (and the whole EP), but I wouldn’t miss the sound footage. I prefer if musicians (playing instruments) evoke an atmosphere (like Greg Leisz often does on the album) – it’s more interesting and less obvious.

[Knopflerfan]

I like the echoes of the fair at the beginning very much. Great song.

I like the song a lot (and the whole EP), but I wouldn’t miss the sound footage. I prefer if musicians (playing instruments) evoke an atmosphere (like Greg Leisz often does on the album) – it’s more interesting and less obvious.

Ooh I really like the opening of this song and for me it really starts the journey through these 4 special songs.

[Matchstickman]

Interesting tune, this one! The opening had me hooked immediately, but then it...stopped!  The groove returns later on, but this business of having the full band playing and then cutting it down to just Mark (think Privateering) has always felt a bit jarring to me. A song usually works better when it builds, rather than takes away (again and again).

The lyrics mention jazz, and the tune sounds a bit jazzy when it gets going, but also like swing, doesn't it?

[Rail King]

I wonder how long it took the band to figure out the structure of this song. I must admit that I still haven't fully done so. It's rather complex (or I'm just musically illiterate ). I also can't say that I've fully understood the lyrics yet. Who's Jack?

Anyway, like the song a lot -- not least because I admire Mark's boldness in trying such a variety of musical genres.

[Knopflerfan]

I wonder how long it took the band to figure out the structure of this song. I must admit that I still haven't fully done so. It's rather complex (or I'm just musically illiterate ). I also can't say that I've fully understood the lyrics yet. Who's Jack?

Anyway, like the song a lot -- not least because I admire Mark's boldness in trying such a variety of musical genres.

Are you mad?? Hahaha!!

Mr Israel Jacob 'Jack' Solomans OBE was a boxing promoter.
'Jack' was born in 1900 and died in 1979. He began boxing promoting in London in 1930 first at Hackney and then Soho. He famously promoted the first fight between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali in 1963.

More history here:

https://jacksolomons.com/history/

[Matchstickman]

I wonder how long it took the band to figure out the structure of this song. I must admit that I still haven't fully done so. It's rather complex (or I'm just musically illiterate ). I also can't say that I've fully understood the lyrics yet. Who's Jack?

Anyway, like the song a lot -- not least because I admire Mark's boldness in trying such a variety of musical genres.

It's bold, but to the detriment of the song, in my view. The swing parts, with the backup singers and everything, are great - you have a band actually playing, grooving. Enough of this "only Mark singing in high-pitched voice". 

[Markus]

Mr Israel Jacob 'Jack' Solomans OBE was a boxing promoter.
'Jack' was born in 1900 and died in 1979. He began boxing promoting in London in 1930 first at Hackney and then Soho. He famously promoted the first fight between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali in 1963.

More history here:

https://jacksolomons.com/history/

Thank you very much for this information

[Knopflerfan]

Mr Israel Jacob 'Jack' Solomans OBE was a boxing promoter.
'Jack' was born in 1900 and died in 1979. He began boxing promoting in London in 1930 first at Hackney and then Soho. He famously promoted the first fight between Henry Cooper and Muhammad Ali in 1963.

More history here:

https://jacksolomons.com/history/

Thank you very much for this information

More than welcome. Enhances the song once one knows the history behind it.

[Robson]

Also thank you. Boxing is not my favorite sport, but the lives of people who practice this sport are certainly fascinating. For example, the life and death of Sonny Liston.

[Knopflerfan]

Also thank you. Boxing is not my favorite sport, but the lives of people who practice this sport are certainly fascinating. For example, the life and death of Sonny Liston.

Boxing is my second sport after Rugby and really like the way MK depicts these stunning boxing histories

[Rail King]

Thanks a lot for the enlightening info on Jack Solomons, Knopflerfan! Now I only have to fully figure out Scavenger‘s Yard and Chess — then I‘ll be ready to just enjoy the new songs.