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Monteleone Lyrics
The chisels are calling
It's time to make sawdust
Steely reminders of things left to do
Monteleone, a mandolin's waiting for you
My finger planes working
Gentle persuasion
I bend to the wood and I coax it to sing
Monteleone, your new one and only will ring
Monteleone, your new one and only will ring
The rain on the window, the snow on the gravel
the seasons go by to the songs in the wood
Too quick or too careless it all could unravel
It so easily could
The chisels are calling
It's back for an encore
Back to the shavings that cover the floor
Monteleone, they're calling for more
Monteleone, they're calling for more
It's time to make sawdust
Steely reminders of things left to do
Monteleone, a mandolin's waiting for you
Gentle persuasion
I bend to the wood and I coax it to sing
Monteleone, your new one and only will ring
Monteleone, your new one and only will ring
the seasons go by to the songs in the wood
Too quick or too careless it all could unravel
It so easily could
It's back for an encore
Back to the shavings that cover the floor
Monteleone, they're calling for more
Monteleone, they're calling for more
Song Info
Submitted by
dogswede On Sep 10, 2009
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It IS about making guitars but there's actually a man called John Monteleone who builds the most beautiful guitars from scratch in his workshop in NY state. He started by making mandolins, as mentioned in the lyrics.
A beautiful waltz.
mon tele one my tele one - as in telecaster one? This could be about the making of a guitar?
mon tele one my tele one - as in telecaster one? This could be about the making of a guitar?
oh! i read something on . . . liner notes? the web? either MK himself or someone who i recognized as being personally involved mentioned this Monteleone gentleman. said that MK went to him ever so humbly and asked if he would make a mandoline for him in honor of his eldest daughter, Isabella. the finished instrument was indeed named "The Isabella" or something like that, and, of course, it now belongs to MK.
the words about the seasons passing too quickly would seem to echo the sentiment of most parents: where do their children's young years go? they seem to fly by so quickly. they seem so fleeting.
aye, this is a warm and tender song, and i wonder if the out-of-character style of music MK chose to write for it was similar to the type of music his daughter was enjoying at the time.
precious. <3
Here's what the maestro himself said about it during the concert on (German) radio station WDR 2 in 2009:
"This song [...] is about a man in New York who is like Stradivari really. He builds these beautiful orchestral guitars [...], and he started to make me a guitar. I said "Don't make me a guitar. They are too good, too good." But he wanted to make me a guitar, and as he's making me the guitar he's sending me little emails. And he says things about making the guitar like: "The chisels are calling", "it's time to make sawdust", and I realized that he was a little bit like me: slightly obsessed with what he's doing. Inspiring guy, so I wrote this song for him. His name is John Monteleone, and the song is called Monteleone."
On the concert in London (2010) Knopfler told the same story, and added that he came to meet Monteleone because "a friend of mine took me along to see him in his workshop".
I didn't hear the story about his daughter, though it sounds nice. However, I wonder if Knopfler is the guy to go around and ask people to do a guitar for him. Also, why would he tell the story the other way round in his concerts?
Anyway, it truly is a warm and tender song, as you put it.
Takes me to another place ..
This beautiful waltz makes me dance around the room with my wife... every time. Thank you Mark Knopfler!