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Discussing the importance of the number three in Mark Knopfler's history, besides mentioning his highly decorated career with one of the most esteemed and respected groups in the music world, cannot ignore that parallel musical journey along the great highway of business. This journey consists of smaller roads where soundtracks (from "Local Hero" to "Shot For Glory"), spontaneous groups (Notting Hillbillies), and brilliant collaborations (Mark & Chet) blend and merge. With the Dire Straits (with the exception of the initial overflowing years of their career), releases gradually became less frequent over time. However, our artist's solo career, at least regarding the release schedule, seems to have embarked on a path of regularity, respecting that unflagging artistic life that has always distinguished him.
Today more than ever, to understand this artist, one needs a real telescope capable of analyzing even those details of his career that might initially seem inconsequential but actually distill the few certainties from apparent objectivity. That Mark Knopfler could have established a strong solo identity was by no means certain. The significant commercial success of the previous "Sailing To Philadelphia" has incisively revealed how crucial it was to capitalize on the aggressiveness of the sounds of "Money For Nothing or Heavy Fuel" in favor of more tenderly folk and country sounds.
With "The Ragpicker's Dream," the eclectic guitarist creates what, in a chronological sense, can be considered as the simplest and moderately electric record he has released. If "What It Is" with a direct Straits-sound represented an easy gateway to STP, for this latest effort, the challenging task of leading off is left to the exquisite folk of "Why Aye Man" (meaning: well, of course), which becomes live as captivating as few others. "Devil Baby" is tasked with presenting a track with a perfect electro/acoustic combination where pedal steel, bouzouki, and violin help put into notes a challenging text about the television exploitation of human eccentricities in reality shows ("See the pig-faced man and the monkey girl - Come see the big fat lady - 'Gator slim with the alligator skin - Come see the devil baby"). With "Hill Farmer's Blues" introduced by an elegant caress to the instrument reminiscent of the immortal "Brothers In Arms," it is the intoxicating Knopfler narration that draws the listener into that limbo of auditory pleasure, where verse and chorus blend perfectly with evocative simplicity. The sober "A Place Where We Used To Live" guides us with its calm rhythm into a subdued atmosphere, where the flexibility of the notes of a quiet piano can lead to the analysis of a text with autobiographical tones ("Now in another town - You lead another life - And now upstairs and down - you're someone else's wife - Here in the dust - There's hot trace of us - Everything is gone - But my heart is hanging on").
Is there perhaps a desire to cut with the past? No, Knopfler has no intention of severing ties with his past. This is a resolutely Knopflerian record where old loves are focused on. It is indeed so, both with the (longer) "Fare Thee Well Northumberland" which combines American tradition vibrations with English folk resonances adorned by a melody of bygone times, and by listening to the tender title track, where poetry and music convey an inner well-being to those who can enjoy the genuineness of an essential song format. Greater appreciation will require a few more listens for the profound "You Don't Know You're Born" and the invocations of "Marbletown," while the bluegrass of "Daddy's Gone To Knoxville" (born thinking of Chet Atkins' stories of when he traveled the country far and wide) leads us by the hand to "Old Pigweed" whose delightful delicacy makes it a perfect concluding gem.
Mark Knopfler has never liked half measures, not when he was strongly "under pressure" (... so to speak), nor since the cover of the records started to simply feature his name. This is a record where the path the artist has taken presents no parallel lanes—it's simply one-way, a one-way consisting of reliable, integral, and authentic music, whose bulbs find in the traditional American and English lands, the right sap to revitalize and take shape again. Nowadays, we are more snobbish; this music we call "roots music," in the sixties it was simply pronounced folk, but perhaps to give the proper recognition to this work, it would be enough to simply rely on a moving declaration from the artist:
"I imagine paradise as a place where folk music meets blues music."
[For those who have made Knopflerian fetishism a mission of their existence, know that there is a "limited version" of the album that includes a second live CD, with unmissable versions of the tracks listed below: "Why Aye Man," "Quality Shoe," "Sailing To Philadelphia" and "Brothers In Arms," plus the live video of "Why Aye Man" recorded at Shepherds Bush Empire in 2002.]
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
05 Quality Shoe (03:58)
You got your toecaps reinforced with steel
Hard-wearing sole and heel
Make those tired feet feel like new
Take your pick, black or brown
Great for the country or the man in town
You're gonna need a quality shoe
You don't want no stand-by pair
'cos these'll take the wear and tear
Made to take good care of you
For that trip by road or rail
For extra grip on those rocky trails
You're gonna need a quality shoe
Now they maybe ain't too hot for dancing
But i don't foresee too much of that
You ain't exactly gonna be prancing
Around in the moonlight
With a cane and a top hat
If you could use a change of pace
And be excused from the rat race
Just take a look at what's on view
Lace 'em up, walk around
I guarantee you can't wear 'em down
You're gonna need a quality shoe
Now i wish you sunny skies
And happiness wherever you may go
But you got to realise
There'll be wind, there'll be rain
And occasional snow
You're gonna want to smile in them
If you're gonna walk a mile in them
There'll be times when you'll be blue
To laugh at rainy days and then
Make your getaways in them
You're gonna need a quality shoe
You got your toecaps reinforced with steel
Hard-wearing sole and heel
Make those tired feet feel like new
Take your pick, black or brown
Great for the country or the man in town
You're gonna need a quality shoe
06 Fare Thee Well Northumberland (06:31)
Come drive me down to the central station
I hate to leave my river Tyne
For some damn town that's god-forsaken
Fare thee well, Northumberland
Although I'll go where the lady takes me
She'll never tell what's in her hand
I do not know what fate awaits me
Fare thee well, Northumberland
My heart beats for my streets and alleys
Longs to dwell in the borderlands
The north-east shore and the river valleys
Fare thee well, Northumberland
I may not stay, I'm bound for leaving
I'm bound to ramble and to roam
I only say my heart is grieving
I would not gamble on my coming home
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
So drive me down to the central station
I hate to leave my river Tyne
For some damn town that's god-forsaken
Goodbye old friend of mine
Although I'll go where the lady takes me
She'll never tell what's in her hand
I do not know what fate awaits me
Fare thee well, Northumberland
So roll on, Geordie boy, roll
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
Roll on, Geordie boy, roll
07 Marbletown (03:36)
Roll out here mister
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in Marbletown
A bone yard is the best
There was a bad bull on the railroad
Tried to pull me off this train
Lay me down in Marbletown
'Til the coast is clear again
I can hear them a-hollerin'
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'
I'm gonna flip me a cannonball
That won't stop for anyone
Lay me down in Marbletown
Wait 'til morning comes
I'm gonna roll out here in the tombstones
Wait here on my train
Lay me down in Marbletown
I hope that it don't rain
And I can still hear them hollerin'
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'
Roll out here mister
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in Marbletown
A bone yard is the best
09 Coyote (05:58)
Look at me coyote
Don't let a little road dust put you off
You can't judge a book
Well, you know that stuff
There's a tear in my upholstery
And a hole in my shoe
But don't you just wish that you could
Make half of the speed I do
Speed I do, speed I do, speed I do
You can't catch me coyote
Though there may be blood on the tracks
There may be some bridges burning
Behind our backs
But I got my laundry on the backseat
And an itinerary too
And don't you just wish that you could
Make half of the speed I do
Speed I do, speed I do, speed I do
Speed I do, speed I do, speed I do
Now I'm a speck on your horizon
Getting smaller fast
An ambush wouldn't be surprising
I hope it's better than your last
Once again the roadrunner
Leaves the coyote in the dirt
You've got another plan of action
But we all know it ain't never gonna work
It must be hard having dog dreams
That never come true
And don't you just with that you could
Make half of the speed I do
Speed I do, speed I do, speed I do
Speed I do, speed I do, speed I do
12 Old Pigweed (04:35)
Everything was in there
That you'd want to see
Corned beef and onions
And true love
Turnips and tinned tomatoes
Parsnips and a few potatoes
A couple extra blessings
From above
Now this here mingle-mangle
Was my best one yet
A big old bad goulash
Worth waiting for
And I'm just about to dip my can
Taste some brotherhood of man
When I get a feeling
That there's a flaw
Who put old Pigweed
In the mulligan?
Was it you?
Who put old Pigweed
In the mulligan stew?
I close my eyes
For just a minute
What do you do?
Who put old Pigweed
In the mulligan stew?
You won't find self-improvement or philosophy
In a dumpster sitting by
The kitchen door
There's plenty leek and humble pie
Ain't too much ham on rye
Sometimes I wonder
What I'm looking for
But a spoonful of forgiveness
Goes a long, long way
And we all should do our best
To get along
Add a pinch of kindness crumbling
To your loving dumpling
Okra for thickening
When something's wrong
But who put old Pigweed
In the mulligan?
Was it you?
Who put old Pigweed
In the mulligan stew?
I close my eyes
For just a minute
What do you do?
Who put old Pigweed
In the mulligan stew?
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Other reviews
By BORNTORUN1976
"The RPD did the opposite of what 'Sailing To Philadelphia' had done, that is, it grew over time with each listen."
"If we want, perhaps it is Knopfler’s most melancholic album but certainly not the least beautiful for that reason!"
