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Today's song comes from Dire Straits, the opening track of their second album, Communiqué. Once Upon a Time in the West is a fantastic tune, and I especially enjoy the lyrics, even though I don't relate to anything in the song. I was, however, once run over by an actual UN peacekeeper.
Down to the Waterline was the first British song I heard, not an English one. That would be Hotel California one night on the outskirts of Phnom Penh in 1985, where Khmer Rouge guerrillas roamed the night. But that is a story for another time. I was introduced to Dire Straits in 1989, when my older brother returned from the Soviet Union with a tape of their debut album, Dire Straits. I adored the sound, even though I could not comprehend a word.
I rediscovered Dire Straits' music when I moved to this country and have been a fan ever since.
Discussion (6)
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Why was Yer Brother in the Soviet Union?
And was all Western music available there?
Was Dire Straits not available where Y'all lived?
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A few months ago, a collection of Dire Straits live performances (1978-1992) were released in a collection. So like anything Knopfler-related, I immediately bought it. At the Live at the Rainbow concert in 1979, Mark introduced this song by saying something like “it’s selling well in East Germany, but I can’t imagine why.” I got a good laugh from that.
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My brother went to college in Tashkent, and he traveled a bit within the USSR and East Germany.
After the Khmer Rouge were deposed, Cambodia remained under communist rule, albeit one that did not slaughter us wholesale. The only music on the radio was our classical and fantastic pre-Khmer Rouge rock/pop music. I grew up listening to Khmer and French music; the French music was remnants from the pre-1975 era, and we only played it at home. When the country opened up to the West in 1990, we began to hear western music on the radio. National radio aired a western pop program in the afternoon, and they started with Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.
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Great song. Communiqué sounds almost exactly like their first album, to me, but I love it.
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Mark Knopfler is one of the major reasons why I gave up trying to play the guitar. Chet Atkins was the other.
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