Sultans Of Swing (The Very Best Of Dire Straits)

1. Sultans Of Swing

You get a shiver in the dark
It’s raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowing Dixie double four time
You feel all right when you hear that music ring

You step inside but you don’t see too many faces
Coming in out of the rain to hear the jazz go down
Too much competition too many other places
But not too many horns can make that sound
Way on downsouth way on downsouth London town

You check out Guitar George he knows all the chords
Mind he’s strictly rhythm he doesn’t want to make it cry or sing
And an old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing

And Harry doesn’t mind if he doesn’t make the scene
He’s got a daytime job he’s doing alright
He can play honky tonk just like anything
Saving it up for Friday night
With the Sultans with the Sultans of Swing

And a crowd of young boys they’re fooling around in the corner
Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies and their platform soles
They don’t give a damn about any trumpet playing band
It ain’t what they call rock and roll
And the Sultans played Creole

And then the man he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last just as the time bell rings
‘Thank you goodnight now it’s time to go home’
and he makes it fast with one more thing
‘We are the Sultans of Swing’

2. Lady Writer

Lady Writer on the t.v.
Talk about the Virgin Mary
Reminded me of you
Expectations left to come up to yeah

Lady writer on the t.v.
Yeah, she had another quality
The way you used to look
And I know you never read a book

Just the way that her hair fell down around her face
Then I recall my fall from grace
Another time, another place

Lady writer on the t.v.
She had all the brains and the beauty
The picture does not fit
You talked to me when you felt like it

Just the way that her hair fell down around her face
Then I recall my fall from grace
Another time, another place

Yes and your rich old man
You know he’d call her a dead ringer
You got the same command
Plus your mother was a jazz singer

Just the way that her hair fell down around her face
Then I recall my fall from grace
Oh yeah, another time, another place

Lady writer on the t.v.
She knew all about a history
You couldn’t hardly write your name
I think I want you just the same as the

Lady writer on the t.v.
Talking about the Virgin Mary
Yeah you know I’m talking about you and me
And the lady writer on the t.v.
Lady writer on the t.v.
Talking about the Virgin Mary
Yeah you know I’m talking about you and me
And the lady writer on the t.v.

3. Romeo And Juliet

a lovestruck romeo sings a streetsusss serenade
laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
finds a convenient streetlight steps out of the shade
says something like you and me babe how about it?

juliet says hey it’s romeo you nearly gimme a heart attack
he’s underneath the window she’s singing hey la my boyfriend’s back
you shouldn’t come around here singing up at people like that
anyway what you gonna do about it?

juliet the dice were loaded from the start
and i bet and you exploded in my heart
and i forget i forget the movie song
when you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong juliet?

come up on different streets they both were streets of shame
both dirty both mean yes and the dream was just the same
and i dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
how can you look at me as if i was just another one of your deals?

when you can fall for chains of silver you can fall for chains of gold
you can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
you promised me everything you promised me thick and thin
now you just says oh romeo yeah you know i used to have a scene with him

juliet when we made love you used to cry
you said i love you like the stars above i’ll love you till i die
there’s a place for us you know the movie song
when you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong juliet?

i can’t do the talk like they talk on tv
and i can’t do a love song like the way it’s meant to be
i can’t do everything but i’d do anything for you
i can’t do anything except be in love with you

and all i do is miss you and the way we used to be
all i do is keep the beat and bad company
all i do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
julie i’d do the stars with you any time

juliet when we made love you used to cry
you said i love you like the stars above i’ll love you till i die
and there’s a place for us you know the movie song
when you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong juliet?

a lovestruck romeo sings a streetsuss serenade
laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
finds a convenient streetlight steps out of the shade
says something like you and me babe how about it?

4. Tunnel Of Love

getting crazy on the waltzers but it’s the life that i choose
sing about the sixblade sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo
and i been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam
and i don’t know where i’ll be tonight but i’d always tell you where i am

in a screaming ring of faces i seen her standing in the light
she had a ticket for the races just like me she was a victim of the night
i put a hand upon the lever said let it rock and let it roll
i had the one arm bandit fever there was an arrow through my heart and my soul

and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and i’m just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love

it’s just the danger when you’re riding at your own risk
she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let’s keep it like this
it’s just a cakewalk twisting baby step right up and say
hey mister give me two give me two cos any two can play

and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and i’m just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love

well it’s been money for muscle another whirligig
money for muscle and another girl i dig
another hustle just to make it big
and rockaway rockaway

and girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
oh girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids

she took off a silver locket she said remember me by this
she put her hand in my pocket i got a keepsake and a kiss
and in the roar of dust and diesel i stood and watched her walk away
i could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me stay

and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and i’m just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love

and now i’m searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades
searching everywhere from steeplechase to palisades
in any shooting gallery where promises are made
to rockaway rockaway from cullercoats and whitley bay out to rockaway

and girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids

5. Private Investigations

It’s a mystery to me – the game commences
for the usual fee – plus expenses
confidential information – it’s in a diary
this is my investigation – it’s not a public inquiry

I go checking out the reports – digging up the dirt
you get to meet all sorts in this line of work
treachery and treason – there’s always an excuse for it
and when I find the reason I still can’t get used to it

And what have you got at the end of the day?
what have you got to take away?
a bottle of whisky and a new set of lies
blinds on the window and a pain behind the eyes

Scarred for life – no compensation
private investigations

6. Twisting By the Pool

We’re going on a holiday now
Gonna take a villa, a small chalet
On the Costa del Magnifico
Where the cost of living is so low

Yeah, we’re gonna be so neat
Dance to the Eurobeat
Yeah, we’re gonna be so cool
Twisting by the pool

Sitting in a small cafe now
Swing, swing, swingin to the cabaret
You wanna see a movie, take in a show now
Meet new people at the disco

Yeah, we’re gonna be so neat
Dance to the Eurobeat
Yeah, we’re gonna be so cool
Twisting by the pool

And we can still get information
Reading all about inflation
And you’re never gonna be out of reach
There’s a call-box on the beach

Mmm, you’re gonna look so cute
Sunglasses and bathing suites
Be the baby of my dreams
Like the ladies in the magazine

Yeah, we’re gonna be so neat
Dance to the Eurobeat
Yeah, we’re gonna be so cool
Twisting by the pool

I’m a twisting fool
Just twisting, yeah twisting
Twisting by the pool

7. Love Over Gold (live)

8. So Far Away

Here I am again in this mean old town
And you’re so far away from me
And where are you when the sun goes down
You’re so far away from me

So far away from me
So far I just can’t see
So far away from me
You’re so far away from me

I’m tired of being in love and being all alone
When you’re so far away from me
I’m tired of making out on the telephone
And you’re so far away from me

So far away from me
So far I just can’t see
So far away from me
You’re so far away from me

I get so tired when I have to explain
When you’re so far away from me
See you been in the sun and I’ve been in the rain
And you’re so far away from me

So far away from me
So far I just can’t see
So far away from me
You’re so far away from me

9. Money For Nothing

Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free
Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Lemme tell ya them guys ain’t dumb
Maybe get a blister on your little finger
Maybe get a blister on your thumb

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV’s

See the little faggot with the earring and the makeup
Yeah buddy that’s his own hair
That little faggot got his own jet airplane
That little faggot he’s a millionaire

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchens deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV’s

I shoulda learned to play the guitar
I shoulda learned to play them drums
Look at that mama, she got it stickin’ in the camera
Man we could have some fun
And he’s up there, what’s that? Hawaiian noises?
Bangin’ on the bongoes like a chimpanzee
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Get your money for nothin’ get your chicks for free

We gotta install microwave ovens
Custom kitchen deliveries
We gotta move these refrigerators
We gotta move these colour TV’s

Lord now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
You play the guitar on the MTV
That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
Money for nothin’ and your chicks for free
Money for nothin’ and chicks for free

10. Brothers In Arms

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you’ll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you’ll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I’ve watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

There’s so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the sun’s gone to hell
And the moon’s riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But it’s written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We’re fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

11. Walk Of Life

Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

He do the song about the sweet lovin’ woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life

Here comes Johnny and he’ll tell you the story
Hand me down my walkin’ shoes
Here come Johnny with the power and the glory
Backbeat the talkin’ blues
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

He do the song about the sweet lovin’ woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life

Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

And after all the violence and double talk
There’s just a song in all the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, you do the walk of life

12. Calling Elvis

calling elvis – is anybody home
calling elvis – I’m here all alone
did he leave the building
or can he come to the phone
calling elvis – I’m here all alone

well tell him I was calling just to wish him well
let me leave my number – heartbreak hotel
oh love me tender – baby don’t be cruel
return to sender – treat me like a fool

calling elvis – is anybody home
calling elvis – I’m here all alone
did he leave the building
can he come to the phone
calling elvis – I’m here all alone

why don’t you go get him – I’m his biggest fan
you gotta tell him – he’s still the man
long distance baby – so far from home
don’t you think maybe you could put him on

well tell him I was calling just to wish him well
let me leave my number – heartbreak hotel
oh love me tender – baby don’t be cruel
return to sender – treat me like a fool

calling elvis – is anybody home
calling elvis – I’m here all alone
did he leave the building
can he come to the phone
calling elvis – I’m here all alone

13. Heavy Fuel

last time I was sober, man I felt bad
worst hangover that I ever had
it took six hamburgers and scotch all night
nicotine for breakfast just to put me right
‘cos if you wanna run cool
if you wanna run cool
if you wanna run cool, you got to run
on heavy, heavy fuel

my life makes perfect sense
lust and food and violence
sex and money are my major kicks
get me in a fight I like dirty tricks
‘cos if you wanna run cool
yes if you wanna run cool, you got to run
on heavy, heavy fuel

my chick loves a man who’s strong
the things she’ll do to turn me on
I love the babes, don’t get me wrong
hey, that’s why I wrote this song

I don’t care if my liver is hanging by a thread
don’t care if my doctor says I ought to be dead
when my ugly big car won’t climb this hill
I’ll write a suicide note on a hundred dollar bill
‘cos if you wanna run cool
if you wanna run cool
yes if you wanna run cool, you got to run
on heavy, heavy fuel

14. On Every Street

there’s gotta be a record of you someplace
you gotta be on somebody’s books
the lowdown – a picture of your face
your injured looks
the sacred and profane
the pleasure and the pain
somewhere your fingerprints remain concrete
and it’s your face I’m looking for on every street

a ladykiller – regulation tattoo
silver spurs on his heels
says – what can I tell you, as I’m standing next to you
she threw herself under my wheels
oh it’s a dangerous road
and a hazardous load
and the fireworks over liberty explode in the heat
and it’s your face I’m looking for on every street

a three-chord symphony crashes into space
the moon is hanging upside down
I don’t know why it is I’m still on the case
it’s a ravenous town
and you still refuse to be traced
seems to me such a waste
and every victory has a taste that’s bittersweet
and it’s your face I’m looking for on every street

15. Your Latest Trick (live)

16. Local Hero / Wild Theme (live)

Mark Knopfler

Music

Sultans Of Swing (The Very Best Of Dire Straits)

Sultans Of Swing (The Very Best Of Dire Straits)