Dire Straits and the Art of Making Movies

       Mention the band Dire Straits these days and it's likely that the songs "Sultans of Swing" or "Money for Nothing" will come up. Those are great songs from equally great albums, and they both helped cement Mark Knopfler's reputation as an incredibly nuanced guitar slinger. The fact that he played those fast notes at the end of "Sultans of Swing" with his fingers instead of a pick was enough to get my attention, but ironically, what really sold me on the brilliance of Dire Straits was Knopfler's lyrics on their third album, "Making Movies."

       I discovered "Making Movies" shortly after it was released in 1980. I was attending High School in El Paso at the time and I think I saw the video for the song "Tunnel of Love" and then bought the album. Or maybe I heard the song "Skateaway" on the radio first. Either way, "Making Movies" was quickly passed around my group of buddies and we soon knew the words to every single song.

       We were sixteen or seventeen years old at the time we were memorizing these lyrics, and being the drama queens that we were, we constantly twisted the meaning of the lyrics to fit whichever girl was currently breaking our hearts.

       For instance, in the song "Tunnel of Love," when Knopfler sings: "And girl it looks so pretty to me, like it always did, Oh, like the Spanish city to me, when we were kids," we naturally assumed the "Spanish city" was El Paso. Oh, and we usually changed the lyric from "Girl it looks so pretty to me" to "Girl you look so pretty to me."

       Fortunately for us, given our ham-handed failures at romance, the song "Hand in Hand" had the lyric that validated all of our feelings: "Yes, and if my love's in vain, how come my love is so strong?"

       I've had a copy of "Making Movies" in my collection for most of the ensuing thirty-three years. It might, from time to time, have slipped from my playlist, but it always found a way back into my life, like a good old friend.

       The tunes on "Making Movies" are, above all, melancholy. But it's a warm and romantic melancholy. In the song "Romeo and Juliet," Knopfler sings: "And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be, And 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." See? Melancholy romance.

       As far as I'm concerned, when all is said and done, Dire Straits will be regarded as a band melding sublime guitar work with a rootsy-pop songwriting ability. That's the general overview. Still, as good as their stuff usually was, the lyrical content on "Making Movies" distinguishes it from the other Dire Straits albums. "Making Movies" is a work of art.

       Peace!