The CD Odyssey rolls on. At one time this artist was getting rolled so
often I actually had to establish a Reign of Terror in his name. Now it has been a while and I’m glad to
return to him with the best CD he’s made yet in his solo career.
Disc 448 is… Golden Heart
Artist: Mark
Knopfler
Year of Release: 1996
What’s up with the Cover? A golden heart-shaped necklace. Pretty literal, but I love this cover’s
simplicity and soothing colour scheme.
It is understated, classy and artfully arranged, much like Knopfler’s solo
career over the years.
How I Came To Know It: I liked Dire Straits, but I hadn’t given Knopfler
much thought since they broke up. Then I
saw a video for “Darling Pretty” on
the Canadian video music channel (CMT). That
was back when music video channels actually played music videos. I probably stopped flipping channels because
of the pretty girl in the video, but I stayed because of how beautiful the song
was. Like that Mark had me again, and I’ve
followed his whole second career since.
How It Stacks Up: I just purchased Mark Knopfler’s latest effort “Privateering”
and now have nine albums including two collaborative efforts. When I reviewed “Sailing to Philadelphia” way
back at Disc 136 I put it first, but listening to this one again makes me
realize they are in a statistical tie for best.
Since I don’t like equivocating if I can avoid it, I’m going to edge “Golden
Heart” slightly out in front for #1. This
can only mean its rating is…
Rating: 5 stars.
Eighteen
years after Dire Straits first took us down to the water line “Golden Heart”
reminds us that there is no expiry date on genius. Without his band, and well into middle age,
Knopfler reinvents his career with this record in stunning fashion.
Of
course, the standard Knopfler fare is here; namely the greatest guitar virtuoso
you will ever hear on either side of heaven.
He delivers catchy blues-rock riffs on the opening track, “Darling Pretty,” with the gusto of
someone who just got his first recording contract. The guitar fills the air with a full, round
sound that is so complete it is like its chemically bonding to the air
itself. As you breathe in it hits you
from the inside out.
He plays
straight ahead “Money for Nothing”
rock riffs on “Imelda” a song about
the excesses of Imelda Marcos of the Philippines. Making an interesting rock song about Imelda
Marcos would stretch anyone, but Knopfler not only makes it catchy, he manages
to educate you in the process about the woman who simply couldn’t have enough
shoes, even as the people under her went hungry.
On “No Can Do” he weaves jazz guitar
interludes throughout a complex song without ever muddying the melody. The only musician who can equal Knopfler playing
around inside a theme so artfully would be Rush drummer Neal Peart. Both men are so accomplished they likely need
to make it harder on themselves just to keep it interesting, but they do it so
adroitly that they never disrupt a song’s natural flow. I don’t even like “No Can Do” that much, but the understated excellence draws me in
every time.
When
Knopfler just relaxes and plucks out a contemporary folk song like “Golden Heart” he is equally awesome,
showing that he can also play it straight and convey just as much emotion in
his instrument as when he’s at full noodle.
In fact,
one thing I love about “Golden Heart” as an album is how understated it
is. After so long in the business, and
all his success as the brain trust and chief talent of Dire Straits, Knopfler
has nothing to prove, and that knowledge seems to help him arrange songs that
features other instruments as much as his own when the situation warrants.
The
opening notes of the first song are not guitar, but violin, and are every bit
as important to the sound as Knopfler, and every bit as brilliant. No surprise that the violin is played by Sean
Keane from the Chieftains. Liam O’Flynn’s
Uillean pipes set the mournful, romantic tone for “A Night In Summer Long Ago” without which the song’s story wouldn’t
be nearly as compelling.
Did I
mention story? In his later years
Knopfler has blended his considerable rock talents with the skills of a master storyteller
in the finest folk traditions. “Golden
Heart” is him delivering his fusion of talents at his best.
“A Night in Summer Long Ago” is the
romantic tale of a knight pining for a lady that can never truly be his:
“My lady may I have this dance
Forgive a knight who knows no
shame
My lady may I have this dance
And lady may I know your name?
You danced upon a soldier’s arm
And I felt the blade of love so
keen
And when you smiled you did me harm
And I was drawn to you my queen.”
These lines
and later references to our narrator’s boots that “will never shine like his” make me feel like Knopfler is drawing
heavily from the story of Launcelot and Guinevere, and infusing it with all the
tragedy and glorious and wrong-headed love that tale deserves. I have heard this song hundreds of times and
every time I hear it I just want to bust out Le Morte D’Arthur and read the
whole damn thing again from cover to cover.
Other
songs are less fanciful but equally moving.
The five star epic “Done with Bonaparte”
tells the story of the French retreat from Russia in the teeth of a biting
winter through the eyes of an ordinary rifleman, who has come to curse his ‘little
corporal’:
“We’ve paid in hell since Moscow
burned
As Cossacks tear us piece by
piece
Our dead are strewn a hundred
leagues
Though death would be a sweet
release
And our grand armee is dressed in
rags
A frozen starving beggar band
Like rats we steal each other’s
scraps
Fall to fighting hand to hand.”
Damn if
this song doesn’t make me feel sympathy for a single soldier over two hundred
years ago that didn’t specifically even exist, and yet is the summation of all
the horrors of war individuals suffer when glory and ambition fade in the cruel
light of day.
Other
songs on “Golden Heart” are more introspective, providing lessons on love from
someone who’s obviously given the subject serious thought beyond a pop
single. “I’m the Fool” is a beautiful apology song in the same vein as Steve
Earle’s “Valentine’s Day” or the recently
reviewed Tom Waits track “Long Way Home.”
“Nobody’s got the Gun” is a constant
reminder to me about one of the keys to a lasting relationship; not feeling the
need to win at all costs. Leonard Cohen
once sang:
“Maybe there’s a God above
As for me all I seem to learn
from love
Is how to shoot at someone who
outdrew ya.”
Knopfler
reminds us that you don’t have to shoot; in fact you don’t even need a
gun. Knopfler counters:
“Nobody’s got to be number one
Nobody’s got the gun.”
It is a
song about de-escalating an argument even when you could just as easily take
another shot. No one does it perfectly,
but it is refreshing to hear a song so artfully describe its importance to a
healthy relationship.
“Golden
Heart’s” brilliant musicianship, artful songwriting, and thoughtful lyrics are
equal to anything Dire Straits did a decade prior. Don’t let its more folky, quieter sound
dissuade you – it just means you have to take the time to listen a bit more
carefully. True beauty steals into only
the quietest of souls, after all.
Best tracks: All of them are good, but my absolute favourites are
Darling Pretty, Golden Heart, Don’t You Get It, A Night in Summer Long Ago, I’m
the Fool, Nobody’s Got the Gun, Done With Bonaparte and Are We in Trouble Now.
So yeah,
most of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment