Heavy Fuel Lyrics
I think the song's a satire about "very male" guys... about those machist jerks who think all girls are paying them attention...
I relate this song to my high school, because everybody runs on Heavy Fuel here! We got drinkers, Smokers, Hellraisers and more. I swear that some of these kids were raised with that song. I sing it all the time and it gets more attention from everyone than any other song- these guys just dont give a fuck how unhealthy their lifestyle is, because like Mark wrote, theses kids will "Write my suicide note on a hundred dollar bill."
The only possible theory that I can come up with is that this is a commentary on certain aspects of male society...a pastiche, if you will. Strong evidence of this is the line that says "I love the babes, don't get me wrong / hey, that's why I wrote this song."
Another theory is that it is just a song about booze and sex and cigarettes. Occam's Razor dictates that the latter must be true, but I'm not so sure.
Definitely satirical. Not one of their best; I hate the way the intro just goes on and on...
I think the main objective of the song is to lampoon the stereotypes of male machismo and libido, to kind of poke fun at all those guys who run on little more than the energy provided by sex, meat, and beer. One of those instances where turning a simple narrative description into a song helps underline the silliness of the topic at hand.
It is actually a song based on a character in a Martin Amis novel
I think the lyrics from this song shouldnt be taken so seriously it was obviously knopfler having a laugh I just love it anyway these lyrics always make me laugh!
Aye, on one level anyway this is simply a sarcastic dig at bullshit macho male attitudes adopted by those who don't care how damaging they are to them. So much so that they're actually spoken from the perspective of such a bloke in question who doesn't care for his outlook.
There's no doubt a bit of clichéd music star thrown in, one clear inspiration for the adoption by some of such lifestyles; "I'll write a suicide note on a hundred dollar bill."
Though the Martin Amis character prospect sounds interesting. Do go on....
I personally really like Mark Knopfler and think he is a very talented singer + musician. I feel the song is very much about the "sod life" attitude and about life is too short to care about what happens.
I personally really like Mark Knopfler and think he is a very talented singer + musician. I feel the song is very much about the "sod life" attitude and about life is too short to care about what happens.
"I don't care if my liver is hanging by a thread don't care if my doctor says I ought to be dead."
"I don't care if my liver is hanging by a thread don't care if my doctor says I ought to be dead."
The meaning is that why should we care about consequences. We're all going to die someday, at least die happy doing the things you wanted to do and enjoying yourself.
The meaning is that why should we care about consequences. We're all going to die someday, at least die happy doing the things you wanted to do and enjoying yourself.
That's personally how I see this...
That's personally how I see this song, your opinion may vary :P
The best thing about this song is that you can't really tell if it's serious or satirical.
The best thing about this song is that you can't really tell if it's serious or satirical.
@thedashingdebonair I'll tell ya right now. He's talking about running wide open ,, Last time I was sober '' dude ' he's not talking about alcohol , you don't drink alcohol through a 100 bill , grab a gear and hang on.
@thedashingdebonair I'll tell ya right now. He's talking about running wide open ,, Last time I was sober '' dude ' he's not talking about alcohol , you don't drink alcohol through a 100 bill , grab a gear and hang on.
I bet none of the commenters here have ever even seen a real tit......
I'm pretty sure he found the riff on the guitar before writing the lyrics, and he decided to write a song that would reflect the dirtiness of the sound of the guitar. That would be Knopfler-like and to me, the song sounds a bit like it was that way.