I can't really tell you why, but I've never been much of a Mark Knopfler booster. Oh sure, I love his guitar playing--who doesn't?--and I'm certain to crank it up more than a little bit whenever the strains of "Sultans of Swing" swirl out of the speakers on the car radio. It's still a great song, but hey--1978 was a long time ago.
Perhaps it's the aftereffect of the never-ending assault of "Money for Nothing," that tongue-in-cheek ode to rock star excess from the mid-1980s that was played about ten million times too many (and which I never really cared for--can you tell?), although I remember admiring the rest of the album (Brothers In Arms). And I liked the sound of "Calling Elvis" from a few years ago, although it sounded to me like some sort of novelty song.
I've also liked the sounds of the albums Knopfler has produced over the years (he even made Bob Dylan sound polished on 1983's Infidels!), and admired the fact that he recorded an album with Chet Atkins. But for some reason, I tended to think of him as "just" a guitarist and not much of a songwriter.
When Knopfler's album Sailing to Philadelphia was released late last year I didn't take much notice. I heard a few snatches and phrases of "What It Is" that sounded okay, but it seemed formulaic somehow and the rapid-fire lyric delivery made it difficult to understand. Then, a couple of months ago, I heard the title track and was astounded.
"Sailing to Philadelphia" caught my ear for a number of reasons. First, its subject matter; the song conveys the thoughts of Jeremiah Dixon and Charles Mason as they sail from England in 1763 to survey the border between Pennsylvania and Maryland, which would eventually become known as the Mason-Dixon line. Not your basic pop music fodder, to say the least--and I'm a sucker for off-the-beaten-path song topics. Second, the song is a beautifully sung duet by Knopfler and James Taylor, whose instantly recognizable voice seems to get better every year. Third, there's Knopfler's masterful guitar playing, as well wrought as the finest silver jewelry. And finally there's the simple melody of the chorus, which makes the song instantly familiar and memorable.
The song begins with a mysteriously dark guitar chord that resolves itself to the more hopeful sounding relative major chord. The changes are repeated with a slight twist, and Knopfler's subtle guitar playing helps resolve the introduction. It's like witnessing sunrise on an empty sea, and one can almost hear the riggings creak and the slap of water on the hull. From the outset there's also a constant driving rhythm, played quietly with brushes on the snare drum, which reminds me of an endlessly chuffing steam engine.
Knopfler exhibits a deft lyric touch and a confident ability to create a setting in the opening lines:
I am Jeremiah Dixon
I am a Geordie boy
A glass of wine with you, sir
And the ladies I'll enjoy
All Durham and Northumberland
Is measured up by my own hand
The monologue of Dixon the surveyor gives way to Taylor's Charlie Mason, a "stargazer...born to chart the evening sky" despite his beginnings as a "baker's boy from the west country."
Then Dixon and Mason join their voices:
We are sailing to Philadelphia
A world away from the coaly Tyne
Sailing to Philadelphia
To draw the line
The Mason-Dixon line
Perhaps it's Knopfler's British-isms that give the song such an authentic tone. "Geordie boy" and "the coaly Tyne" are very effective, at least to these ears, although I couldn't give you a precise definition of either one.
Taylor's Charlie Mason begins the second verse, expressing apprehension at the magnitude of their task. "The West will kill us both...a Geordie and a baker's boy in the forests of the Iroquois." Knopfler's Dixon responds by pointing out the positive aspects of what lies before them:
Now hold your head up, Mason
See America lies there
The morning tide has raised
The capes of Delaware
Come up and feel the sun
A new morning is begun
Another day will make it clear
Why your stars should guide us here...
The chorus is repeated and then the song slowly sails west and disappears, with Knopfler's moody guitar alternately casting shadow and light like the play of sun and clouds on the ocean swells.
It's a challenge to write songs from different points of view, and not many popular songs are written from the perspective of historical figures. A number of songs on this album speak through various people from different periods in American history, and the fact that Knopfler is British only adds to the impressiveness of his accomplishment. It's as if he's channeling the spirits of some of his subjects.
For example, "Baloney Again" (with some great harmonica playing by Jim Hoke) relates the story of traveling gospel singers in mid-twentieth century segregated America, a time and place where all they ever seem to eat is "baloney, again." And "Prairie Wedding" is about a homesteader who sends for the woman with whom he has been exchanging letters in the hope that they can build a life together.
Not all of the songs are as good as the ones mentioned here, but this album earns high marks for its inventiveness as well as its musicianship. Knopfler is quite a songwriter; I don't know why it took me so long to notice.