Hill Farmer's Blues Lyrics

Lyric discussion by dansullivan06 

Cover art for Hill Farmer's Blues lyrics by Mark Knopfler

Tow Law is a small town in northeast England.

It was always my impression that this song was about a rural farmer who has been wronged in some way - my guess is he has an unfaithful wife - and is struggling to deal with the situation.

Any other interpretations?

I'm with you but when you see the things he's buying in town....If I were her I'd wait up.. with a shotgun or something, or better yet I'd be gone!

sounds like the fella'd had enough...as though he'd tried and tried, but he was at a loss to save his relationship with the woman he loved as 'the only one.' the kinds of things he's buying seem very practical for a farmer . . . an indication that he's going to carry on with his life while his betrayer tries to live with herself and reaps the harvest of what she's sown. and? he doesn't want her to even THINK about taking his f-a-i-t-h-f-u-l ('do you even remember what that word means, woman?') dog. wants her to...

Yeah, you're spot on. And the things he's buying in town are fairly normal things for a farmer to buy, but their inclusion lends a threatening atmosphere to the story, and implies a threat from the farmer.

I think the song is one of the most brilliantly written songs I've ever heard.