brothers in arms

dire straits found an antidote for blues with their worldwide number one smash brothers in arms. the themes of love and war mix despair with destruction; the personal with the political; and war criminals with survivors. in this shrinking 'one world' where "there's no such thing as sanity, and that's the sanest fact"; we prostitute ourselves to the man. yet, in all of this darkness, "there should be laughter after pain" and "sunshine after rain." the war-weary heart of darkness still seeks sanctification. "just when this world seems mean and cold, our love comes shining red and gold."

it was the first album to have the compact disk outsell the vinyl version. i remember that we played it all the time at record town and that the cd version had much longer versions of some of the songs than the lp.





http://www.markknopfler.com/

the syrupy reggae blues of 'so far away' starts the album off with the idea of being on the other side of the world from loved ones in a "mean old town".

SO Faraway from Me- Dire Straits from Denny on Vimeo.

'money for nothing' was a huge hit on the radio and on mtv (celebrating and lampooning it at the same time). it also won a grammy for best rock performance. sting got a writing credit for his "i want my mtv" line (since it was set to the tune of 'don't stand so close to me', his publishing company insisted). it funny to think that it was groundbreaking computer animation at the time.

"that ain't workin' that's the way you do it

you play the guitar on your mtv"

Watch Dire Straits - Money for Nothing in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

'walk of life' was top ten hit about a subway musician finding redemption in his "dedication" and "devotion" to the "oldies, goldies". producer neil dorfsman wanted to leave it off of the album; but the band vetoed that decision.

'ride across the river' blurs the lines between the "soldier of fortune" and "soldier of freedom" as "right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right."

'brothers in arms' is about the falklands war between argentina and england.

'Brothers in Arms'
full album:






All songs were written by Mark Knopfler, except where indicated. 


1. "So Far Away"   5:12
2. "Money for Nothing" (Mark Knopfler, Sting) 8:26
3. "Walk of Life"   4:12
4. "Your Latest Trick"   6:33
5. "Why Worry"   8:31
6. "Ride Across the River"   6:58
7. "The Man's Too Strong"   4:40
8. "One World"   3:40
9. "Brothers in Arms"   7:00