Standin' on the corner
Of Toulouse and Dauphine
Waitin' on Marie-Ondine
I'm tryin' to place a tune
Under a Louisiana moonbeam
On the planet of New Orleans

In a bar they call The Saturn
And in her eyes of green
And somethin' that she said in a dream
Inside of my suit I got my mojo root
And a true love figurine
For the planet of New Orleans

New Orleans - the other planet
With other life upon it
And everythin' that's shakin' in between
If you should ever land upon it
You better know what's on it
The planet of New Orleans

Now I'm tryin' to find my way
Through the rain and the steam
I'm lookin' straight ahead through the screen
And then I heard her say
Somethin' in the Limousine
'Bout takin' a ride across the planet of New Orleans

If she was an ace
And I was just a jack
And the cards were never seen
We could have been the king and queen
But she took me back to her courtyard
Where magnolia perfume screams
Behind the gates and the granite
Of the planet of New Orleans


Lyrics submitted by Dasch

Planet of New Orleans Lyrics as written by Mark Knopfler

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Planet of New Orleans song meanings
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    General Comment

    I just saw MK on the 2008 leg of KTGC in Oregon USA. (Saw him in 2005 as well) My 70 something year old folks came up for the two shows in Oregon, and never having heard him or of him before, they were blown away by what a great performer he is live.

    Putting together a mixed MP3 CD for their 900 mile road trip home, I went back and re-listened to some of the studio stuff to winnow out what made it and not unto the CD. I forgot just how good so many of the songs off of On Every Street was, including this one with the haunting melody.

    Many of the early DS studio didn't make it on CD, for lets face it, he is so much better live, especially on the early stuff, but the last two albums, On Every Street and Brothers in Arms has more of the sound MK solo evolved into.

    This song, rarely played on live boots I've add access to, stayed just because of the rich tapestry of sounds, the smokey voice, sax, as always great finger picking guitar work, and just great over all sound made it.

    chuckeweon July 15, 2008   Link

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