Telegraph Road (song)
| Telegraph Road | |
|---|---|
| Dire Straits | |
| publication | 1982 |
| length | 14:15 |
| Genre (s) | Progressive rock |
| Author (s) | Mark Knopfler |
| Label | Rondor Music Intl. |
| album | Love over gold |
Telegraph Road is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits . It was written by Mark Knopfler and was released in 1982 as the first track on the album Love over Gold . Stylistically it can be assigned to progressive rock . The song was a regular part of the concerts of Dire Straits and later by Mark Knopfler.
interpretation
Inspired by a bus ride by Knopfler, the lyrics tell the story of the country's development along a beaten path that turns into the six-lane Telegraph Road. The first, optimistic part covers the development from the first settler to the big city. In the second part the perspective changes: From the point of view of a lyrical self, the decay of the street is described by the migration of jobs and the closing of shops, which is also reflected in the self's cooling relationship with the addressed you. But he does not want to give in to despair and asks her to leave the now derelict Telegraph Road with him. The text is inspired by Telegraph Road in Detroit , Michigan .
composition
The song begins with a crescendo that lasts almost two minutes. Then the main theme of the song begins, played by Alan Clark on keyboard, accompanied by John Illsley on bass. Then Knopfler's vocal part begins; Halfway through the first verse, Pick Withers' drums also play. After the first verse the main theme follows again, now played by Knopfler and Hal Lindes on guitar, followed by the second verse, sung and played in a similar cheerful mood as the first.
This is followed by an equally happy, if quite slow, guitar solo by Knopfler. After this, the mood becomes gloomy and the main theme is played again. This is followed by the relatively depressing sounding bridge, accompanied by Clark on the keyboard. This is followed by a very slow solo by Knopfler.
After the end of this, the third and fourth verses follow, also with the main theme in between, but which has been changed slightly and where Clark's keyboard is now used again. Towards the end of the fourth and last verse - which is similar to the first, that is, at the beginning Knopfler's singing is accompanied exclusively by the keyboard, then in addition to the guitar by Lindes and the drums by Withers, the bass by Illsley appears, which is played during the The third verse could not be heard - followed by a 15-second keyboard interlude by Clark, followed by a “down the telegraph road” at the end of the vocal part, and in the last five minutes only Knopfler's guitar accompanied by drums could be heard.
First Knopfler plays the main theme for almost a minute before he deviates completely from the previous melody and the solo finally reaches its climax a minute later. Then the solo continues at a fairly fast pace for another three minutes, until the song ends in a fadeout .
occupation
- Mark Knopfler - vocals, electric guitar, resonator guitar
- John Illsley - bass
- Hal Lindes - electric guitar
- Alan Clark - piano, organ, synthesizer
- Pick Withers - drums
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ setlist.fm. Retrieved January 6, 2017 .
- ↑ setlist.fm. Retrieved January 6, 2017 .
- ^ Song Explanation Project: Telegraph Road. Archived from the original on June 25, 2008 ; accessed on January 6, 2017 (English).