| Dire Straits – Single-Handed Sailor Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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I love all the contributions, thanks folks. The only bit I would want to contribute is - as Skippy19 also mentioned - I think the single-handed sailor is Chichester himself and the song isn't so much that he was actually there at 2:00am (he could have been several times!), but more that if he *were* there this is just Mark's imagining what Chichester would have done/said. It's really a negative or forsaken attitude portrayed toward the sailboat (Gypsy Moth IV) which was factual - Chichester disliked it very much after the global journey and didn't hesitate to quickly detach from it for several reasons ("...sailing away in the dark"). Found this after reading up a bit on the topic. Mother and baby are just referring to the Cutty Sark (mother, larger) and the Gypsy Moth IV (baby, being much smaller). They were next to each other at one point, perhaps they still are. |
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| Mark Knopfler – Haul Away Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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I appreciate everyone's interpretation here. I listened to this song for the first time about a year ago, and have listened to it many times since then. I can't describe the "beautiful yet haunting" feeling I got when I heard it the first time and immediately grabbed my guitar to strum along and played it a few more times to let the feeling sink in. The tune feels very old-world Irish or Scottish but I'm no expert there. My own thought is that perhaps MK is simply portraying the feelings going through the mind of a seaman following an accident where a weaker seaman drowns. I don't think it was a love or woman who "leaves" since the narrator references them both as men (living and cold). I don't think the weaker, unlucky seaman was murdered - "Ah, but you did slip" emphasis on "Ah" which shows regret. The stronger seaman tried to help and regrets the loss, but is mentally trying to move on at the time the song is written/voiced by the character within the song. He is recalling the tragedy, where he tried to help, but at the same time trying to distance himself so as to not carry the blame - by voicing the primary reason reason that the one who drowned slipped and was never "a steady bold one". I would imagine any seaman who went through this experience would want to get home - to his loved ones - to heal and put the bad experience behind him. He is genuinely thankful ("Lord") for the breeze so he and the crew can return home quicker. Repeating the line "I'm a living man and you're a cold one" is probably his way of distancing himself within from the incident as well. Kind of like, "this is just the way it is now...you drowned, but I didn't". I think this keeps the blame very neutralized and reiterates that it was a simple yet unfortunate accident at sea. Cheers... |
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