 Get Lucky (2009) [ larger cover art ] |
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Musicbrainz DBThey had a last supper
the day of the Beaching
She's a dead ship sailing
- skeleton crew
The galley is empty
the stove pots are cooling
with what's left of the stew
Her time is approaching
The captain moves over
The hangman steps in
to do what he's paid for
With the wind down the tide
she goes proud ahead steaming
and he drives her hard into the shore
so far from the Clyde
together we'd ride
we did ride
As if to a wave
from her bows to her rudder
bravely she rises
to meet with the land
Under their feet
they all feel her keel shatter
A shallow see washes their hands
Later the captain
shakes hands with the hangman
and climbs slowly down
to the oily wet ground
Goes bowed to the car
that has come here to take him
to the graveyard and back to the town
so far from the Clyde
together we'd ride
we did ride
They pull out her cables
and hack off her hatches
Too poor to be wasteful
with pity or time
They swarm on her carcass
with torches and axes
Like a whale on the bloody shoreline
Stripped of her pillars
her stays and her stantions
When there's only her bones
on the wet, poison land
steel ropes will drag her with winches and engines
'til there's only a stain on the sand
So far from the Clyde
together we'd ride
we did ride
So far from the Clyde
together we'd ride
we did ride
| kymoonshine | Posted: May 05, 2013 - 11:59 Ship Breaking always makes me sad...great song |
| bc (It's everything. Location, Location, Location.) | Posted: Apr 16, 2013 - 16:56 I heard the first few notes and the tone of the guitar and knew exactly who it was. His sound and style are so unique, he just stands out, even on a simple intro. |
| Ptijoc (FRANCE) | Posted: Apr 04, 2013 - 08:21 After many years of boring music... a great record. Old rocker never dies... |
| dewhead (Big Orange Country) | Posted: Apr 04, 2013 - 08:16 Giving this a 10 because it doesn't go to 11! |
| oldsinger (Wexford, PA) | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 13:05 Sawyer wrote: Nothing better than MK's signiture guitar riffs.
Very well said. |
| Antigone (A house, in a Virginian Valley) | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 13:04 Byronape wrote: While I am getting a bit burned out with Mark Knopfler, I have to say that this is a compellingly deep and rich song. It's like writing a song with a story this thoughtful is a lost art anymore.  I love Knopfler, but this one is particularly deep and sweet. |
| Sawyer (Calgary, Canada) | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 13:04 Nothing better than MK's signiture guitar riffs. |
| Segue (Almost Paradise) | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 13:03 RP making me like this guy and Dire Straits is really something :) |
| PaulBJCorsaro (Folsom, CA) | Posted: Jan 31, 2013 - 13:02 wonderful to hear this again ... makes me want to sit down with a stiff drink |
| Byronape ("post-capitalist wreckageville") | Posted: Dec 12, 2012 - 03:58 While I am getting a bit burned out with Mark Knopfler, I have to say that this is a compellingly deep and rich song.
It's like writing a song with a story this thoughtful is a lost art anymore. |
| ploba (the other coast and hang a left) | Posted: Dec 12, 2012 - 03:53 so bloody brilliant |
| ziakut (Right Here) | Posted: Oct 29, 2012 - 11:45 dsd wrote: I know what you mean. In the Internet discussion world where cleverness and cynicism have the loudest voice, I find nothing more beautiful than an honest heart with a wise voice who is unafraid of sentimentality and vulnerability. We have been fortunate. She is most certainly missed. Beautifully put dsd...  |
| dsd (PDX) | Posted: Oct 10, 2012 - 10:53 ziakut wrote: I'm missing Cynaera right now. Ann...you are greatly missed and I hardly even knew you.  I know what you mean. In the Internet discussion world where cleverness and cynicism have the loudest voice, I find nothing more beautiful than an honest heart with a wise voice who is unafraid of sentimentality and vulnerability. We have been fortunate. She is most certainly missed. |
| old_shep (Iowa) | Posted: Oct 10, 2012 - 10:31 I have become "The Clyde" |
| ziakut (Right Here) | Posted: Sep 08, 2012 - 21:09 I'm missing Cynaera right now. Ann...you are greatly missed and I hardly even knew you. |
| ziakut (Right Here) | Posted: Aug 08, 2012 - 09:59 This slays me. Beautiful. |
| Anax (Seattle, WA) | Posted: Jun 25, 2012 - 15:40 Too many mournful songs from Mr. Knopfler. |
| Somaosteo (Bendigo) | Posted: Jun 06, 2012 - 05:15 So smooth |
| thais | Posted: Jan 31, 2012 - 10:09 Phototrekker wrote: Come on Bill...... admit your having a bromance with Mark - we won't judge you...seriously - Hmmm... It seems Bill really likes a lot of MK. But so what? Nobody is perfect... Bill has lots of credit... |
| Stingray (NWO reloaded) | Posted: Jan 07, 2012 - 13:33 neuticle wrote: The world only needs one Bob Dylan Leave the old man alone - he turns 82 next month! |
| catsoup (Euclid, OH) | Posted: Jan 07, 2012 - 13:28 neuticle wrote: The world only needs one Bob Dylan Yes, and we already have one. Fortunately we also have Mark Knopfler, and James Taylor, and dozens of other amazingly talented tellers of stories who make life more beautiful. |
| Stingray (NWO reloaded) | Posted: Jan 07, 2012 - 13:25 People who know him say Mark is an asshole, when I saw him playing a full paid concert in 45 minutes in....................MOSCOW!!!! I knew this people, who knew him, must be right! Still - when one hears his music, his voice and guitar, it's hard to imagine this is really true! PS Just imagine! Moscow - 1995! 5 years into freedom! A hungry crowd waits for the master - for the first time! European/US ticket-prices (in Moscow)! 45 minutes and the self-proclaimed guitar-god leaves the stage and does not return, despite a crowd that hurt their hands, clapping, begging for his return! No way! God did not show up again! The asshole-side of Mark...? wondered all of my Russian friends, I saw the show with! I felt ashamed for this working-class hero aka multi-million-$ superstar! In the end they are all the same - arrogant pricks, once they got a status! PPS When he did the VERY SAME thing in Cologne, a few years later, I promised him and myself, to take any chance to tell people about his true colors! |
| michaelgmitchell (Ontario, Canada) | Posted: Dec 06, 2011 - 18:05 Mark's transition to "historical" folk is quite soothing and very enjoyable. |
| PatsyMat | Posted: Dec 06, 2011 - 18:05 See the 60 Minutes special. Describes everything in the song. http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2154127n |
| neuticle (fog fog fog) | Posted: Dec 06, 2011 - 18:05 The world only needs one Bob Dylan |
| hencini | Posted: Nov 28, 2011 - 21:27 My god, this is an amazing song. |
| Phototrekker | Posted: Nov 16, 2011 - 10:23 Come on Bill...... admit your having a bromance with Mark - we won't judge you...seriously - |
| fredriley (Nottingham, UK) | Posted: Nov 16, 2011 - 10:22 james_of_tucson wrote: Most people hear this song literally. Does anyone else hear this as an allegory on Britain's industrial decline? I wouldn't go that far, but it's likely an implicit tale of the decline of Clydeside shipbuilding. From being one of the largest and busiest shipbuilding yards in Britain, the Clyde docks have been reduced to a pitiful rump with consequent major impacts on local employment and communities. I suspect, though, that Knopfler's just telling a simple tale of a ship's death - that's his style, to sing emotionally and powerfully about small things. |
| TimeWaster | Posted: Nov 03, 2011 - 21:10 ThePoose wrote: Scrapes on a hull can be filled and polished.   |
| Cynaera (In a hammock under my own vine and fig tree.) | Posted: Oct 04, 2011 - 13:50 + ThePoose wrote: Scrapes on a hull can be filled and polished. I'm sure xtalman meant "scrapped" - no need to be nit-picky (that's MY job.) I think we all can agree that the scuttling of a ship is like a funeral, and can be a very sorrowful, emotional event. That's why I can't listen to this song if I want to keep a good mood, and why I'll deliberately listen to it if I need to cry and the tears won't come otherwise... |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Oct 04, 2011 - 13:25 ThePoose wrote: Scrapes on a hull can be filled and polished. Brutal, Poose. Brutal. |
| ThePoose | Posted: Oct 04, 2011 - 13:22 xtalman wrote: Dad was in the Navy for 4 years and I remember he was sad when he found out that the two ships he served on were scraped. I think he figured they were but still.... Scrapes on a hull can be filled and polished. |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Sep 14, 2011 - 07:42 unclehud wrote: xtalman wrote: Yeah, we've discussed it here before, why does a ship, or even a boat, elicit such strong emotional ties? I think it's for exactly the reasons you mention.Dad was in the Navy for 4 years and I remember he was sad when he found out that the two ships he served on were scraped. I think he figured they were but still.... When I realized the submarine I served aboard ('78 to '82) was cut up for scrap, it put me in a funk for days. She was my home for four years. She was a good ship, took us to strange places, and helped create many, many memories. Thank you for your service. |
| TimeWaster | Posted: Jul 27, 2011 - 11:17 Stingray wrote: Great shot - thank you! That's what she said... |
| unclehud (300 feet above the planet) | Posted: Jul 16, 2011 - 22:39 xtalman wrote: Dad was in the Navy for 4 years and I remember he was sad when he found out that the two ships he served on were scraped. I think he figured they were but still.... When I realized the submarine I served aboard ('78 to '82) was cut up for scrap, it put me in a funk for days. She was my home for four years. She was a good ship, took us to strange places, and helped create many, many memories. Illigtimi Non Carborundum. |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Jul 13, 2011 - 13:57 james_of_tucson wrote: Most people hear this song literally. Does anyone else hear this as an allegory on Britain's industrial decline? I think that's a fair interpretation, since the Empire was built on the Navy and merchant marine. But I think it was written to be taken literally, with all the very specific references to the galley, stanchions, hatches and whatnot. The literal image is searing enough, isn't it? I think of the ship my grandfather served on, it suffered pretty severe battle damage and limped into port, only to be repaired and sent back into the fray. Men fought and died on that ship, and even with eleven battle stars, it ended up in the scrapyard just like the ship in this song. Sad.See 'USS Boise' and Captain 'Mike' Moran. My father is named after the captain. |
| james_of_tucson (Tucson AZ) | Posted: Jun 23, 2011 - 16:36 Most people hear this song literally. Does anyone else hear this as an allegory on Britain's industrial decline? |
| horstman (Syracuse, New York) | Posted: Jun 23, 2011 - 16:30 Another Gordon Lightfoot? At least the guitar is top notch. |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: May 25, 2011 - 08:16 Byronape wrote: More like heart breaking. Yes indeed. |
| Byronape (Purgatory) | Posted: May 11, 2011 - 06:54 gvan wrote:  Ship breaking. More like heart breaking. |
| gvan (From inside the house!) | Posted: May 11, 2011 - 06:50 Ship breaking. |
| rmmartins (Terra Brazilis) | Posted: Apr 09, 2011 - 16:21 Definitely a 9, this album is one of the greatest things to come out from music industry in the last years. The soul in this is almost palpable. |
| Cynaera (South of Neanderthal) | Posted: Mar 29, 2011 - 12:56 cc_rider wrote: Funny how several comments say something like 'Why am I welling up over this song? It's just a ship.' But sailors know a ship is more than the sum of its parts. Humphrey Bogart's 'Santana', Hemingway's 'Pilar', the Edmund Fitzgerald, the USS Boise (my grandfather served on her), the Arizona, the Indianapolis, and on and on. Ships somehow become something much more than a bunch of wood and steel, they hold a special place in our hearts and minds. Maybe it's because a ship takes us where we could not possibly go otherwise, out on the open ocean, out of sight from the safety of land. Without the ship, you could not survive. Sailors owe their lives to their ship, and it reflects in the reverence of songs like this one. Cynaera wrote: I'm crying here... I didn't really understand until lately that... oh, I can't find the words... Anyone who's crewed or captained a ship understands, and I've done neither, but I still understand. A ship is also a beloved member of the crew, and a co-captain. Consigning a faithful ship to the bottom of the ocean is a proper burial, but also one that's emotional and sorrowful for those who served on her decks, worked with her, and saw, sometimes in amazement, her working with them.. A strong bond is formed, and when a ship is crippled, wounded, unable to sail, it's like finally realizing that the most humane thing to do is to give her the very best burial and keep her memory alive. Knopfler has done this in an amazing way. I love this song - I hate this song. It tells a huge story and captures emotions and perceptions, but it makes me cry, because I can empathize with anyone who has lost a ship to the weather, the wind, or bureaucracy. Solid 10. And that will never change. |
| bseib (40 24' N 86 53' W) | Posted: Mar 29, 2011 - 12:55 Knopfler has developed into an exceptional storyteller. Fantastic. |
| kcar | Posted: Mar 29, 2011 - 12:52 mgoldman wrote: OK, I like this song, just not three times in 3 days. RP can be an online Mark Knopfler shrine, but I love Mark. I do wish that he would occasionally just rock out hard. |
| 84MacGuy (Portland, Oregon) | Posted: Feb 19, 2011 - 19:08 Usually when these old timers like Knopfler revert to ballads in their old age they sound like generic crap. But Knopfler has created quite a nice sound with his songs lately. Very easy to listen to. |
| SynapseRider (Portland, OR) | Posted: Feb 17, 2011 - 14:09 Wow. Could have been written after watching the documentary "Shipbreakers" Amazing (and sad) documentary. |
| Byronape (Purgatory) | Posted: Jan 19, 2011 - 13:26 calypsus_1 wrote:
Hey, it's George Lucas... |
| Stingray (EUROPE) | Posted: Dec 25, 2010 - 10:06 calypsus_1 wrote:
Great shot - thank you! |
| mgoldman (Wherever you Go, There You Are) | Posted: Dec 25, 2010 - 10:06 OK, I like this song, just not three times in 3 days. |
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