Mark Knopfler

"You say I'm the greatest, bound for glory. Well the word is out and I learned. I got the latest side of the story: You're pulling out before you get burned."

"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 the honky tonk like anything, Saving it up for Friday night. With the Sultans... with the Sultans of Swing."

"Stepping out to Angellucci's for my coffee beans Checking out the movies and the magazines Waitress she watches me crossing from the Barocco Bar I'm getting a pickup for my steel guitar I saw you walking out Shaftesbury Avenue Excuse me for talking I wanna marry you 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 And my conductress on the number nineteen She was a honey Pink toenails and hands all dirty with money Greasy hair, easy smile Made me feel nineteen for a while"

"Lady writer on the TV 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."

"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."

"A love struck Romeo, sings a street-suss serenade; Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made. Finds a convenient street light, steps out of the shade He says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?""

"Juliet says, "Hey, it's Romeo. You nearly give me 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 was loaded from the start And I bet, then you exploded in my heart And I forget, I forget the movie song When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong? Juliet. We 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, yeah. Now you just say, "Oh, Romeo, yeah. You know, I used to have a scene with him.""

"I seen a girl on a one way corridor Stealing down a wrong way street For all the world like an urban toreador She had wheels on her feet Well the cars do the usual dances Same old cruise and the curbside crawl But the roller girl she's taking chances They just love to see her take them all No fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd In her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud"

"Hallelujah here she comes queen rollerball Om Shanti what can I say don't care at all You know she used to have to wait around She used to be the lonely one But now that she can skate around town She's the only one"

"She gets rock n roll, a rock n roll station And a rock n roll dream. She's making movies on location. She don't know what it means. But the music make her wanna be the story. And the story was whatever was the song, what it was. Rollergirl don't worry. D.J. plays the movies all night long."

"She gets the sun in the daytime Perfume in the dusk And she comes out in the night time With the honeysuckle musk Because she smells just like a rose And she tastes just like a peach She got me walking where the wildlife goes I'd do anything to reach her And she was made in heaven Heaven's in the world"

"A long time ago came a man on a track Walking thirty miles with a sack on his back And he put down his load Where he thought it was the best He made a home in the wilderness He built a cabin and a winter store And he plowed up the ground by the cold lake shore And the other travelers came walking down the track And they never went further, no They never went back Yes, and they say we're gonna have to pay what's owed We're gonna have to reap from some seed that's been sowed"

"Well, I'd sooner forget, but I remember those nights Yeah, life was just a bet on a race between the lights You had your head on my shoulder Your hand in my hair Now you act a little colder Like you don't seem to care"

"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"

"The caretaker was crucified for sleeping at his post They're refusing to be pacified, it's him they blame the most. The watchdog's got rabies, the foreman's got the fleas. And everyone's concerned about Industrial Disease. There's panic on the switchboard, tongues are tied in knots. Some come out in sympathy, some come out in spots. Some blame the management, some blame the employees. And everybody knows it's the Industrial Disease."

"Two men say they’re Jesus, one of them must be wrong."

"It takes love over gold And mind over matter To do what you do that you must When the things that you hold Can fall and be shattered Or run through your fingers like dust"

"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 Because you're so far away from me."

"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."

"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 Oh yeah the boy can play. Dedication, devotion Turning all the night time into the day."

"All the late night bargains have been struck Between the satin beaus and their belles. Prehistoric garbage trucks Have the city to themselves Echoes and roars, dinosaurs They're all doing the monster mash. And most of the taxis, most of the whores Are only taking calls for cash.I don't know how it happened It all took place so quick. But all I can do is hand it to you And your latest trick."

"Why worry? There should be laughter after pain. There should be sunshine after rain. These things have always been the same. So why worry now?"

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

"But it's written in the starlight And every line in your palm We're fools to make war On our brothers in arms."

"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"

"If we can't get along we oughta be apart And I'm wondering where'd you get that cold, cold heart Set me free - sign my release I'm tired of being the villain of the peace"

"Sometimes you're the windshield Sometimes you're the bug Sometimes it all come together baby Sometimes you're a fool in love Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger baby Sometimes you're the ball Sometimes it all come together Sometimes you're gonna lose it all"

"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. ’Cause if you wanna run cool, If you wanna run cool, If you wanna run cool, you got to run On heavy, heavy fuel."

"Oh the iron will and the iron hand In England's green and pleasant land No music for the shameful scene That night they said it had even shocked the queen"

"I can see what you're looking to find In the smile on my face In my peace of mind In my state of grace I send what I can To the man from the ministry He's a part of heaven's plan And he talks to me Now I send what I can to the man With the diamond ring"

"I wonder if there's no forever No walking hand in hand Down a yellow brick road To never never land These days I get to where I'm going Make it there eventually Follow the trail of breadcrumbs To where I'm meant to be ... When I think about us I see the picture that we made The picture to remind us True love will never fade."

"I worked the rowdies and daytrippers Now and then I think of you Any which way we're all shufflin' Forward in the queue They'd like to move my operation They'd like to get me off the pier And I dream I'm on a steamer Pullin' out of here"

"MacIntyre's teaching us waltzing Out on the gymnasium floor McIntyre's out of the army You'll be slippered if you get him wrong McIntyre's din booms loud in the gym And we've only got a little short song We've only got a little short song"

"And it's one, two, three, two, two we're all a disgrace McIntyre tore us apart And we dance with ourselves when we'd all found a space Waltzing with fear in our hearts"

"When it's pop goes the weasel Let go of the easel You don't want This rickety rackety life It's seat of the trousers It's all sink or swim, son..."

"These are not my decisions Flaming visions Ringing expressions The clamouring voice It's volcanic desire The unquenchable fire It isn't a question Of having the choice Anyway, now I'm old But if you won't be told If you've been created To answer the call All passion and lust Is going to end in the dust But you'll hang on some Government gallery wall"

"You must go, forget it Let it all go, let it all go Go, forget it, let it all go"

"Are you home from the sea, my soul balladeer You've been away roaming far away from here weathered a storm, your heart unafraid crossed every ocean in the boat that you made.... You're a light in the dark, a beacon of hope and strong as a sea boat, strong as a rope. And the vagabond wind, whispers over the bay and the songs and the laughter, are carried away in the sky."