A couple o' tunes from Dire Straits' first album... first off... "Water of Love:"
I believe I have taken enough
yes I need a little water of love
Water of love deep in the ground
But there ain't no water here to be found
Some day baby when the river runs free
It'll carry that water of love to me
The guitar playin' is first and foremost in this track. The lyrics are secondary and cut a lil bit close to the bone these days. And then there's "Wild West End."
Excuse me for talking I wanna marry youDire Straits first album came out when The Second Mrs. Pennington and I were living in Oregon sometime around the 1978 - 1979 time frame and the album immediately became a favorite. Little did we know when the album hit the charts that we would be "you and me/ we can BE/ walkin' in the wild West End" a little over a year and a half later. Fate, and all that... GOOD fate, as it were. Those years in London were some of the best years of my life.
This is the seventh heaven street to me
Don't be so proud
You're just another angel in the crowd
And I'm walking in the wild West End
Walking with your wild best friend
―:☺:―
An update, of a sort... Lou, in comments to the post below, asks:
So, did you wait around to see if DVEST8R was married?
Funny you should mention that, Lou. Just as I was pulling out of the commissary parking lot a comely young captain attired in a flight suit... long strawberry blonde hair tied back in an appropriate military bun... happened to walk right in front of me as I was leaving. I stopped to let her pass and was gifted with an oh-so-brief but dazzling smile in return. Flight suits aren't the most flattering thing that women can wear, but this young lady's bearing... upright, confident, proud... made THAT point moot, as she was a wonder to behold. My mind immediately raced to all sorts of wild conjecture but I put it all away. Immediately. Fantasy is one thing, reality quite another.
The simple fact is this: there ain't a woman alive and on active duty at this point in time that would even think about giving an ol' retread like me a second look. And, truth be told, I wouldn't be much interested if she DID. Unless she happened to be a colonel or a CMSgt on the cusp of retirement, which is to say at the end of a 30-year career. Most of life is vertical (as opposed to horizontal) and I simply wouldn't have much... if anything... in common with someone younger than 50. I might could make an exception if a fling were in the cards, but that's just more wild conjecture on my part. Reality sucks.
Yep, Dire Straits' first album is a keeper, and it's also a "Fortuna" (as in Air Force Station, North Dakota, for those not in the know) album for me. Hearing it takes me right back there IMMEDIATELY ... generally the memory is driving somewhere in John Rodriguez's borrowed El Camino.
ReplyDeleteGood times.
Always thought it was a shame their best stuff didn't get much air time. All you hear around here is sultans of swing (which I like a lot) and Money for nothing. Occasionally, there's a dose of walk of life, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteYou introduce me to some great music.
ReplyDeleteI left another comment on the Aretha/Otis post that might go along with the rest of this post as well.
Lori: You were STILL in Fortuna then? I thought you left shortly after I did...
ReplyDeleteMatt: Pandora. I haven't listened to broadcast radio in years, and I'm NOT kidding.
Lou: I saw your other comment, and thanks for the kind words.
Buck, I own an old vinyl of Brothers in Arms (at least I think that's the title). I played it so much I've about worn it out. Knopler has a great tired, world weary voice and is absolutely top notch with the guitar.
ReplyDeleteAll of my Dire Straits/Knopfler is on vinyl, as well. Except for the first album, which I re-purchased on CD. There were some things I just couldn't live without. ALL of his stuff is good, but the first album really resonates with me for reasons that go beyond the music.
ReplyDeleteBuck, I was in Fortuna until about mid-May of 1979. Two weeks prior to my departure, it snowed. A week or so after my departure, I was in Phoenix, where it was already about 112 degrees. Weather shock, culture shock, just shock (and a little bit of awe) all around.
ReplyDeleteI relate to the weather shock thing... three years in Ol' Blighty where it MIGHT have hit 85 once or twice, then directly to OKC in July... with its 100-degree heat and humidity. There was just a lil bit o' culcha shock, too. ;-)
ReplyDelete