Brothers in Arms (song)

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Brothers in Arms
Dire Straits
publication May 14, 1985 (album)
October 14, 1985 (UK)
length 6:04 (single)
6:55 (LP)
8:55 (live)
Genre (s) skirt
Author (s) Mark Knopfler
Producer (s) Mark Knopfler, Neil Dorfsman
Label Vertigo Records
album Brothers in Arms
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Brothers in Arms
  UK 16 10/26/1985 (13 weeks)

Brothers in Arms (English for " Brothers in Arms ") is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits from 1985, written by Mark Knopfler and produced in cooperation with Neil Dorfsman . It appeared on the album of the same name and is composed in G sharp minor .

Analysis: background, statement, intention

The melancholy song was written during the Falklands War and can be described as an anti-war song . The subject of war is not obvious in the song at the beginning, as a natural backdrop is sung about ("these mist covered mountains"), which is increasingly characterized by destruction ("these fields of destruction - Baptisms of fire") and death ("Now the sun's gone to hell - And the moon's riding high - Let me bid you farewell - Every man has to die "), but the last verse expresses the song's message, the madness of war, explicitly:" We're fools to make war - On our brothers in arms. " Mark Knopfler explains that the song is sung by a soldier who is dying on the battlefield; as a real singer, he has to immerse himself in his vision and feelings, so to speak. Linguistically it should also be noted that the song title initially contains a hidden double meaning, which can be expressed in German as "Brothers in Arms" and "Brothers in Arms": In the first two stanzas it is one's own comrades to whom the speaker turns, so the "brothers in arms". Only in the last line does it become clear that all enemy soldiers are also meant by the "brothers in arms".

In 2007 a new recording of the song with singer Mark Knopfler was recorded by the BBC . It was released on May 29, 2007 as a downloadable version for the United Kingdom and Ireland. Part of the income went to the South Atlantic Medal Association, an organization that supports veterans of the Falklands War, some of whom suffered physical and psychological consequences decades after the war, e. B. post-traumatic stress suffer. Commenting on this in 2007, Dire Straits front man Mark Knopfler said: “I feel moved that the song Brothers in Arms, which I wrote during the Falklands War, was chosen for many veterans still on the scene suffer from this conflict. "(" I touched that my song 'Brothers in Arms', which I wrote at the time of the Falklands war, has been chosen to support the many veterans who are still suffering from the effects of that conflict. ")

Publications

There are several versions of the song of different lengths: the studio album version is 6:55 minutes, the single version is 6:04 minutes and the live version on the album On the Night is 8:55 minutes. Instead of his Schecter guitar , Mark Knopfler played the song on a Gibson Les Paul . The release took place on October 1985 on the Vertigo record label .

Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms - Live in '85 was the first released CD single. It was released as an EP and was released in the UK in 1985 on the Warner Bros. Records label . It only contained live recordings: track one was a short version of the song, track two the song Going Home, track 3 a long version of the song and track 4 the instrumental Why Worry .

Use as the soundtrack of movies and TV series

The song could be heard in the episode Gespensterjagd ( Out Where the Buses Don't Run; Season 2, Episode 3) of the television series Miami Vice . The ballad was also used as background music in episode 22 of season 2 of the television series The West Wing - In the Center of Power , Two Cathedrals, as well as in the movies Spy Game - The finale countdown and Inside Hollywood . The song also served as background music for the episode I coulda been a defendant (season 3 episode 3) of the series Due South . The song was also used in the last episode S6E10 of the series "The Americans".

Music video

The music video uses the rotoscopy procedure : the band plays the song while film footage of soldiers deployed in the war is overlaid. This technique was popularized by the Norwegian music group a-ha , who used it in the music videos for Take On Me (1985), The Sun Always Shines on TV (1985) and Train of Thought (1986).

At the 1987 Grammy Awards , the clip for Brothers in Arms was named the best music video.

Cover versions

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Charts UK
  2. ↑ Classic Tracks: Dire Straits “Money for Nothing”
  3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated December 21, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.radioberlin.de
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ Knopfler spoke about the need to get inside the character as a songwriter to do the story justice. “'Brothers in Arms' is sung by a soldier who is dying on the battlefield,” he said. [2]
  6. ↑ Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms - Live in '85, CD
  7. ↑ Video of Gespensterjagd Out Where the Buses Don't Run with the background music from Brothers in Arms on Youtube
  8. ↑ Excerpt from the West Wing episode Two Cathedrals with the music from Brothers in Arms
  9. ↑ Spygame Soundtrack - The Final Countdown
  10. ↑ audiovision.de ( Memento of the original dated February 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Review of Inside Hollywood's Blu-Ray on the Audiovision magazine website on January 31, 2011. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / audiovision.de
  11. ↑ [3]
  12. ↑ Red Faction Armageddon: Sketch Mode Trailer is reminiscent of “Take on me” by a-ha PC Games Hardware from June 1, 2011.