I consider Telegraph Road to be the ultimate Dire Straits song. While I'd never want to be a gatekeeper I believe that if you don't like TR you don't actually DS. Everything DS did well they did in this amazingly in this song. Amazing deep lyrics, amazing instruments, amazing solos, absolute control of mood and feel.
@@JohnBrooking4 Yes - and then tying it back to something concrete - "From all these signs saying 'sorry but we're closed'." Brilliant player, brilliant songwriter, AND a poet.
We mustn't forget Mr Knopfler wrote the words and music, arranged it, then sang and played his guitar as only he can. Every thing in this MASTERPIECE came from him alone. The mans a GENIUS. Long may he reign 😊...
I’m always torn if that line or if “Then came the churches, then came the schools, then came the lawyers, then came the rules” is the greatest lyric ever. Let’s call it a tie.
I grew up in Toledo Ohio. Telegraph Road, also known as US-24, ran from Toledo up through Monroe and Detroit Michigan where it terminates into I-75 after North Detroit. For me, Telegraph Road embodied shattered dreams and escape. I tried to join the military back in 1980, fresh out of high school. Because of a bike accident when I was younger, I was told I couldn't join. I had based my entire future on being in the military. Telegraph Road became my escape. Living in Toledo and the greater Northwest Ohio area was a dead-end. No future for me there.... I used to drive the length of Telegraph road. It was something to do and an escape from the mind-numbing boredom I faced living in Toledo. It was on Telegraph Road that I would make a fateful decision that changed the course of my life forever. Fast-forward 40 years.... I'm looking at a nice retirement in a few months, thanks to the head-space and thought-provoking miles that Telegraph Road gave me. It gave me a way out and a path forward into a successful career. Thanks to Telegraph Road, my golden years will be rich and fulfilling. Can you imagine my happiness when Dire Straits wrote a song about that empty, lonely road? Such a fitting tribute...... :-)
The Telegraph Road is a major north-south 70 mile thoroughfare in Michigan. Mark Knopfler was inspired to write this song while riding in the front of the tour bus, which made the journey down Telegraph Road. At the time, Knopfler was reading the novel The Growth Of the Soil by the Nobel Prize winning Norwegian author Knut Hamsun and he was inspired to put the 2 together and write a song about the beginning of the development along Telegraph Road and the changes over the ensuing decades. This was a metaphor for the development of America and the ruining of one man's dreams in the wake of its decline, in particular focusing on unemployment.
I’ve been listening to this since I was a child in the back of my father’s car. Even as a six year old, I couldn’t help but cry. I didn’t understand the song, but Mark is such a brilliant composer that he can tell a story with sound alone. Almost 40 years later and I’m still captivated by this song and performance. Modern music can’t touch this. It’s not just nostalgia. Who else can do this, and do audiences have the patience to listen to 14 minute songs?
I was the nerdy kid in school listening to Dire Straits on my Sony Walkman while the cool kids were into hip hop. That suited me just fine - and still does. My favourite live album ever.
Same for me. I am now not truely listening actively listening to Dire Straits, and yet, I have listened to this song so often that I could still sing 80% of the music, be it drums, piano or guitar. I love this song
Same and... today I learned that the Telegraph Road of the song was the one I lived near in two different houses thirty miles apart. So I like it even more.
THEE GREATEST Dire Straits song ever, that all those years ago, the song that sold me on the band, I saw them in Edinburgh and guess what they never played it GUTTED X 1 MILLION
@@alexanderbespalov9659 No disrespect to Pick Withers for his early drumming years with DS but when Terry Williams was added it gave them a much harder edge which I loved. DS were my favourite band from my 70's / 80's youth & continue to be my go to band for a feelgood vibe when I'm feeling low. Far better than the manufactured bands of today.
This is the song where Alan Clark really made his input as a briliant and extremily emotional keyboard player. Just listen to the solo after ”three lanes moving slow”, it really is one of the most beatiful intros ever leading to a dialogie between guitar and piano.
Some bands are simply better live. DR is certainly one of those. I am always suspicious of bands that don't sounds as good live. I won't mention names :-)
I never realized was "THE" Telegraph Road in Detroit. We lived 3 miles from the north end of Telegraph Road, then a I lost my job and found another further south. We bought a house closer to my new job, and that house was only a half mile from Telegraph Road.... but nearly 30 miles from our old house. So his impression of the road being a long, linear-developed road is spot-on... "like a rolling river." For most of its length it's perfectly straight, part of the very regular grid of roads on 1 mile spacing in and around Detroit.
I always identified with several of verses; I've lived them, when I lived near Telegraph Road. The verse about driving home in the freeze? Yeah, lived it. The verse about getting laid off? Yeah lived it. The "race between the lights"? Yeah.... and got a ticket doing it on Telegraph Road. "Sorry but we're closed".... I was going to say it was a predictor of the auto industry's collapse, but really it's the story of the boom-and-bust cycle of any major city dependent on a single industry. Just making the connection to Detroit's Telegraph Road makes this song even more relevant to me. And oh by the way... I was living there in the 1990s when the radio call-in show was broadcast.
I always think Mark was not recognised for his great lyrics...he was such a super storyteller...in the classic folk tradition....and of course...a guitar virtuoso...this song neatly illustrates his genius..
The radio schedules (almost) never play DR. Probably too long but shame on them for ignoring its genius. By the way, got the same stressor’s discussed, the road could so easily have been Great North Road (A1) of Eastern England, especially in the North East where Mark grew up.
@@Dave5843-d9m Actually in and interview MK said he was in the front seat of a tour bus in Michigan and saw the name on the highway they were traveling on... Telegraph Rd; wrote the song using imagery from the book he was reading at the time.
The structure of this song fascinates: the story of the birth, growth, and decline of a trail that became a major road of a major industrial city. It begins with a simple melody nearly Appalachian, Mark's resonator guitar with dulcimer-like overtones. Then the music builds and broadens as the road and city build. Then you get the apex and nadir in one simple phrase: "six lanes of traffic, three moving slow.." Then, notice: the music actually stops for a few seconds (the crowd, still clapping, doesn't notice). When the music begins again, with the keyboard, it is subdued, melancholy. When Mark comes back in with lyrics, it's very personal -- what's happening to him. And the music becomes more desperate and angry. By the end he is almost resigned, but then defiant. Just brilliant writing, musically and vocally.
Unequivocal. A musical exclamation point. As important to musical history as any live performance before or since… The Allman Brothers live at the Fillmore, SRV at Austin City Limits, Hendrix playing the National Anthem at Woodstock… and The Alchemy performance by Dire Straits. Personally, I include Tedeschi Trucks live at Red Rocks but not too many people are familiar with them. ✌🏼
@@sobrietyisoverrated I'd love to hear Doug get into some Tedeschi Trucks Band. I watched Rick Beato's interview of Derek the other day, and he's such a brilliant musician.
Is hard when is the same decade that features "The name of this band is Talking Heads". But I agree. Mark and the whole band was at their peak that night
It's so nice to see a reaction to a Dire Straits song that isn't Sultan of Swing. *That's a great song live but c'mon, people:* Dire Straits has put out some absolutely EPIC songs over the years! Things like Private Investigations, Tunnel of Love & The Man's Too Strong. And some very soothing, hypnotic tunes like Wild West End & Water of Love. Let's explore that stuff!
I was so fortunate to see them live back then. I'm a HUGE dire straits fan. Telegraph road always reminded me that this sounded like something Springsteen would do. Love it!!!! 😀♥️♥️
When I listen to the lyrics, it often brings tears to my eyes. I suppose it’s bc I’m 52 now and the way Mark captures historical moments is incredible. It makes me realise just how different these gifted musicians are to regular folk like me. They truly have the ability to tap into the magic of the universe. It’s almost as if they discover these songs as opposed to creating them. Make no mistake, only the gifted can discover such beauty and convey it via their instruments that they’ve mastered.
Oh, Doug, you should have listened to the studio version. The opening is so atmospheric and beautiful and the guitar solos are sublime. Go listen now and compare and contrast. You should also listen to Private Investigations.
I don't know how many time I had listened to this song (the whole album, if I'm honest) on headphone in my bunk aboard, and being immediately transported in an other place... and it works everytime.
The “beautiful guitar” in the opening is Mark’s 1937 National Style O resonator he bought off an old friend in 1978. Of course, it features on their song Romeo and Juliet in open G tuning; capo on third fret, and also on the cover of their Brothers In Arms album.
The Alchemy version is by far and away the most emotive, and the end is just a thing to be savored. Just emotion pouring out. Also, whoever did the sound mixing & recording at that show was an absolute genius. It actually made my father buy a CD player. The Sony CDP-101 in the 80's, just so he could hear it clearly. This was the only album we had on CD for a while.
I grew up with classical music until 15 when i took a working record player home from scrap and searching for a suitable record in the library with no idea of rock music i judged the book by it's cover and took home Telegraph Road. An Eye opener! Two years later i bought my first CD player, and because money ran out, for some time Telegraph Road was the only compact disc, i spend endless hours listening to this album!
Absolutely! I don't mind this live version, but the studio puts the piano much more prominently in the mix. You can barely hear the piano embellishments here. The song still works without them, but _with_ them, it's "kicked up a notch", to put it mildly. Studio version definitely wins this comparison.
It is interesting how Brits visiting the USA notice things that inspire music, literature and art. The vast open spaces and sheer speed of development are alien to us but fascinating too. When I hear Telegraph Road I always think my first visits there in the 1980s.
It is some of the most powerful and phenomenal story telling ever…I am a 70’s girl, Mark is my favourite guitarist, and this song goes along with Dr. Seuss and the Lorax, powerful stories for everyone!! Developing isn’t always the best!!
This is one of my favourite songs ever, glad you did a reaction to it. Mark Knopfler describes his music generally as a mixture of rock and where the Tyne meets the Delta. Tyne being a river in the North East of England near the Scottish Border where he grew up, and by the Delta he meant the Mississippi Delta... by that he means a combination of British Folk/Celtic and Blues/American Folk and more recently Country music as well.
@@melanierhianna In fairness Mark isn't really from Tyneside, his mother was... he was from Glasgow, but he moved to Newcastle when he 7 and does consider himself a Geordie.
Couldn't click on this fast enough to see your reaction to this great song. Thank you for this. The great Terry Williams is the drummer. Pick Withers left by this time.
As an absolute fan of Dire Straits since my teens, and having listened to this particular track hundreds of time, what a joy it was to tune in here. Love how you slot in elements of music theory which just adds all the more to my appreciation as to what a brilliant group of musicians the band were. And, like you, when it came to the final few mins, I was boogie-ing. Wish you had brought your keyboard out :))
@@ericleins4081 in the 1990s I lived 3 miles from the north end of Telegraph Road, on Walton Ave. in Auburn Hills, then moved 30 miles to Dearborn to a house that was only a half mile from Telegraph Road. It never occurred to me that the Telegraph Road in the song was the one in Detroit. Cool, huh?
Completely agree, David, Mark is a fantastic story teller! In my late 50s now, and listen to lots of music.....to this day MK is still my all-time favorite lyricist! Cheers!
It flows through all of his music. Started with sultans, where he happened across a band of the same name and tells the story. A lot of songs on communique have the journalistic influence. Then Romeo and Juliet a song about his own relationship has it. Private investigations is also very directly telling a story. Perhaps the most famous one is money for nothing. Listening to the guys in the electrical store watching MTV. Notepad in hand having the song unfold in front of him. Such a great style and I'm sure I've missed many other great stories he's written.
I was lucky enough to have seen them on this tour. You could have heard a pin drop when they got to each of the quiet moments in this track. Brilliant song, brilliant band and brilliant story. Thanks for the reaction. Keep on Rocking,.
Hey Doug, thanks for breaking this one down and sharing your comments to this wonderful song. I’ve been a huge Dire Straits fan for all of my life, Mark being the sole reason to get into guitar playing myself. This song accompanies me throughout my years and every single time it gives me goosebumps. Last time playing this one in the car I actually drove by my own house since the song wasn’t finished yet. I really think that dIRE sTRAITS where as their best as a band around the time of this recording. Obviously there so much more that followed after that coming from Mark Knoplfers urge to produce such great songs. Every one of them paints a little picture and has a nice story to it, which you see happening in front of you, similar to Telegraph Road. Mark is not only a fantastic 🎸 player with an unique style, more over he’s a great song writer with a very authentic voice as well. You might wanna check out Mark’s solo albums for that. Thanks again and all best from The Netherlands 🇳🇱 Michael
It was the very first CD I purchased back in the early-mid '80s when I could finally afford a CD player. I was looking for albums that had great dynamics because digital recordings were supposed to have a wider dynamic range. The first music store I went to didn't have "wish you were here", but they did have "love over gold", so it was my very first one. I was a very disappointed teenager when I discovered that I could hear tape hiss from the original recordings in the quiet parts. Apparently lots of early cds were rushed to market from inferior master tapes.
Monster album… right after TR you get Private Investigations, which is a masterpiece as well. I enjoy it all, especially the last three minutes of “It Never Rains,” an outro that stands equal with any of MK’s master solos.
My favourite DS track, from my favourite DS album, and indeed one of my all-time general favourites. Lyrics as good as they get - and did you pick up the crowd singing along, right from the very start? You picked the best version of it. And thanks (again) Doug - your explanations of the structure of the song helped me understand just why its music has always had such an effect on me. So glad you enjoyed and were impressed with this superb song, by the superb Knopfler and his band. I really enjoyed your reaction to it.
I saw them live 6 times, and Knopfler solo once. They were superb. This is one of their best numbers. Mark is a true poet in the sense but also a guitar virtuoso.
Terry Williams is on the live recording, Pick Withers had moved on by then. While Mark didn't always get what he wanted from Terry in the studio (he was infamously replaced by Omar Hakim for most of Brothers in Arms), Alchemy leaves no doubt that he was a monster live - in a good sense.
Ha! I copied the lyrics out and submitted it to my teacher as original poetry and got my first "A". The teacher gave me more A's after that, so thanks, Mark, for helping me break the lock of my improved marks at school. I was 12.
This song is a gem and so is Mark Knopfler. I haven't heard this is a long time - really enjoyed being reintroduced to it through your reaction. Nice one, Doug!
HI Doug! In my opinion, TR is the best song Mark Knopfler ever written. I listened to it thousand times when I went back from school. Was the first thing I did after closing the door. Run to the turntable and put the "Love over gold" LP . Your choice of taking the live recording for your reaction, I think it was wrong, but interesting. The greatness of the studio version deserves to be listened and analyzed, because of the quality of their production. Sounds really haunting and need to be listened a few times to catch all on it. Thanks for your videos, I really apreciate them.
"You had your head on my shoulder, you had your hand in my hair , now you act a little colder like you don't seem to care." This gets me every freakin time and I dont know why. btw: I consider Sailing to Philadelphia to be a later released prequel of this masterpiece. Mark, a poet who's also pretty good with the axe. ;D
That line always gets me too…at the same time nostalgic and bitterly sad. This might be the only song that gives me goosebumps AND brings a tear every time I hear it
Hey Doug Mark worked as a reporterfor The yorkshire post newspaper here in leeds England ,Telegraph road is outstanding ...Genesis do a very similar song called Driving the last spike ..well worth a listen y'all ..regards Chris over the water in blighty ....
Doug's reaction to that little delayed resolve the muscly keyboard player plays is why I watch this channel. Love your appreciation of the little beautiful details of composition and performance. Thank you Doug.
If I could only hear one track for the rest of my life it would be this one. It has everything. I was five when the album and I was obsessed with this live version of TR. Made me want to play the guitar and I still do.
That analysis of the story yhis song tells inthe last minutes was AWESOME!! You nailed it talking about how the song tells the story and evolution of society through the evolutions of a track to a road to serve the needs of that society. Inspiring and really deep. Thaks a lot.
I bought "Love over Gold" in my teens in -83 I think and still clench my fists to white knuckles while listening "Telegraph road". I grew up with Dire Straits and for me this is their best song. I remember back in the -80's, a guy from my house bought the VHS cassette of Alchemy and I got to watch it. It was a mindblowing experience seeing the band play. Good stuff. Thanks for the video, great content again. 🤘
Dear Doug, I respect you so much as a musician and you have surely great knowledge and sensibility above all for harmony. Still, I see that you put too much emphasis on chords and harmony than in other aspects of music. I have a classical background as well and I studied in the Conservatory in Italy and I remember once I asked to my harmony teacher: "Maestro, when you listen a music do you focus on chords and intervals?" and he answered "no, I forget about it". Once you have analized and you know which is the harmonic structure, in my opinion you have to forget about it and enjoy all the other aspects in music, like melody, rhytms, colors, tymbres, arrangement, technic of the players. Harmony is like a glass, but melody and other aspects are the content in the glass. How is possible not to notice and remark the amazing ability and peculiar technic of Mark Knopfler as a guitarist? He plays great and memorable solos in this song, with amazing musical taste. The whole final part of the song with the last solo you were still noticing the harmonic structure, to the detriment of the emotionality of the song that was reaching its emotional climax with the guitar as prominent role. I hope you will consider this constructive criticism of mine, I still follow you with much appreciation. 😊
I disagree. There are loads of people out there giving their emotional reactions to songs, many of them probably not even genuine, and that becomes boring very quickly. This channel offers something different, and it ought to be welcomed for that. Not all of us have a classical music education, so the small amount of harmonic analysis we are given can add to the appreciation of the song, even if it may have been the last thing on the mind of the composer when he was writing it.
@@delorangeade I don't think we are disagreeing at all. I agree with everything you wrote and I do not see that your words in any way contradict mine. As I wrote I appreciate this channel over others, otherwise I would not follow it. At the same time, among enthusiasts, one can also have different approaches and there is always room for reciprocal growth. Understanding and knowing harmony is certainly good, but it should not become a cage that imprisons the listener: music is a universal language that goes far beyond formal rules. I don't think I have a higher level of preparation than Doug, but I certainly have a broader listening education than he does, because in my case classical studies have in no way generated a limitation or a restriction of musical prospective as happens to many. I love Opera, Classical music, Jazz, Rock and Heavy Metal since I was 10 years old even before I learnt how to play various musical instruments and study at the Conservatory. From classical studies one comes out often very framed, they teach you that harmony and counterpoint are everything in music (the limits of this conception and education are quite evident in Doug's approach). Actually it depends everything on what are you listening; analyzing a song by a rock band like Dire Straits requires a different sensitivity and approach than listening a Choral piece or a Bach composition for organ. At the same time, in order to appreciate a twelve-tone composition or a free jazz piece by Ornette Coleman, one must abandon the classical rules of tonal music. I'm sure there is room for learning and growing even for a Classical Composer, exchanges of opinions and interactions help to expand one's mind and horizons.
Mark is becoming a folk type. Once he left Dire Straits, his solo career was so very interesting, coming even closer to Folk. 'Je Suis Desolee, and Journey to Philidelphia' all are wonderful as well. The man is Legend.
I remember, ages ago in my teens, buying the Love over Gold vinyl album. Got home and started to listen and felt very disappointed for the first 10 or 20 seconds. It was not what I was expecting at all. That disappointment soon vanished and this song is right up there among my favourite Dire Straits songs. Magnificent story telling and musicians at the top of their game. Thank you for another good memory.
Thanks for doing this. I've loved this song for a long time and found it to be one of my favorite long-form rock tunes. My degree in Geography draws me to the sad line just before the bridge "six lanes of traffic, three lanes moving slow" as what we geo-nerds refer to as a "zone of discard." My favorite musical moment is the little piano line during the lament "life was just a bet on a race between the lights."
The Dm F progression seems to be common to most of my favourite Mark Knopfler songs. I always got a strong Bruce Springsteen vibe from this, with the keyboards, the storytelling and that it was written about America. I always preferred Tunnel of Love, where Mark is singing about the place where he grew up. It seems more meaningful, more personal and less generic. Telegraph Road is still a great song though.
Yeah, that would be the 'Spanish City', which was a kind of seaside fairground place very close to where Mark grew up. You can almost smell the diesel of the generators powering the rides while you listen to 'Tunnel of Love'. Truly epic.
@@timwebber9277 There's a video where he is talking about it with Brian Johnson of AC/DC, but Tunnel of Love is my favourite Dire Straits song for exactly the reason you describe.
For me this song is about how it all falls together so nicely. The rhyme, the hook, the melody, it's a divine many-dimensional fit. If it's inspired by a Nobel winning book, the sing might well be a greater masterpiece. The author would be proud.
This is one of my favorite Dire Straits songs. Tunnel of Love and Brothers in arms are other two great songs. I always love the lyrics an thee story this song tells us, but the music itself is sensational. And I missed in this video that despite to talk about the chords, no take attention at the guitar solo, that has some memorables moments and some sounds like violins. The guitar solo is incredible.
Man, I will never get tired of listening to Mark spin his masterful stories. I was born in Western Michigan back in '68. Dad enlisted in the Air Force 3 years later. Mom and I just moved back to a small town about 20 miles west of Pontiac. I delivered at least 200 trailers worth of automotive parts all over the Detroit metro area when I was driving long-haul 18 wheelers form 91-01. I wish Mark would do a version of this song with Bob Seger. This song perfectly grabs the soul and history of Detroit. Bob Seger, imo, is the true voice of Michigan (for R&R).
The three epics from DS: Sultans, Tunnel of Love and this one. Masterpieces each one. I've never been able to choose a winner. And I've been listening for 4 decades. They are indeed epic, each one.
Ive heard so so many conclusions to this song, but yours is, in my view, by far and away, the most accurate, concise explanation of the meaning if this, one of my all time DS songs. It was interesting to hear you throughout the video. Most pauses in review videos are simply annoying, but yours, sir, was (musically) illuminating, theoretically fascinating. As a youth, l tried to learn music appreciation. Unfortunately, the area around keys, key signatures, I found totally incomprehensible! And made me realise that studying music was not for me. So to listen to an actual musician/composer wax so lyrically was not only so original on a RUclips made me almost as fascinated to listen to your commentary as one of my favourite songs. Thank you so much, it was a true joy to watch this video.
This. Is. Dire. Straits... and this is a masterpiece... I think last part is absolutely improvisation... they could be doing and doing it... but then decided to end... "this was enough"...
Wow... Thank You! First experienced Knopflers's genius my on a school bus to a sports event my senior year in HS 1978... have heard Telegraph Road countless times in my life but never appreciated or understood the depth till just now... THANK YOU Doug! And YES absolutely wonderful performance!
I've seen several comparisons in the past between the "Love over gold" album and Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here". Certainly this track makes me think the lyrics match Roger Water's incredible talent for telling a story and capturing emotion and David Gilmour's virtuoso guitar playing. Mark Knopfler is simply outstanding.
This song always brings me tears. Gotta put the old record playing! You have an excellent presentation of the harmonic progressions. It would be really cool to engage with some classical music in this channel, since I truly believe rock and metal fans will enjoy and appreciate.
This live performance contains all the wonderful stuff that tends to be lacking in modern live shows. Freedom, improvisation, danger, heart, tempo changes... everything that makes a performance unique. Today most live shows are played to a click and there aren't many ways of just letting it go wild like in this song. As much as I respect virtuosity on stage (e.g. Dream Theater), they are never able to deliver surprises like this. And the thing is, I never seem to get bored listening to this song because I always get a warm feeling inside me, and for a moment the world feels like a better place.
I'd really like to say that your interpretations are really inspiring. How beautifully can an abstract thing be explained? I love to watch these kind of reaction videos based on my favourite songs and I think this is the best. Thank you for your inspiring reaction :)
Hello Doug! I'm a (Belgian) fan of your channel and also of Dire Straits. Telegraph Road is one of my favorites. I remember I chose this tracks for my English lessons at secondary school. Our teacher gave us the opportunity to bring our favorite songs. So I brought this one. I remember he liked it too. His interpretation of the synth-sounds in the beginning was that it was an imitation of the 'ringing' you could hear if you pressed your ears against a telegraph pole. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Doug, thanks for doing Telegraph Road. Had been hoping you would do it one day. For mine, the greatest piece of music ever written. Hasn't been topped in 40 years!
The Alchemy album is one of the great live recordings. I loved Dire Straits and Marks later stuff like Sailing to Philadelphia but nothing compares to his Dire Straits stuff. The first album was a game changer in the age of disco. It saved my 16 year old ears. The Brothers in Arms made me buy a CD player in early 80s dollars - it was the profit from many ounces of weed for my poor broke college student ass 😉. I still listen to the albums decades later. Wish I could say the same about new recordings these days - how many have even close to this level of complexity in a rock and roll song? How many could hold your interest for 14 minutes?
This song is a beautiful epic masterpiece and Mark Knopler, the self taught guitarist with his own unique sound is as always superb! Another awesome similar style of song of theirs is Going home.
I love how the music tempo changes to reflect time in transition. In the first movement the beat remind you of walking. Then it transitions to a galloping beat like a horse. Transitioning to a chuging beat like a locomotive. And finally the sound finishes in modern traffic.
Mark is, and will probably always be, my favorite guitar player. Mind you, next favorite is Really close and REALLY full. Guys like SRV, Stephen Stills, Jimi, Clapton, Peter Green, Peter White, Wes Montgomery... et- al
Hey! First off, I want to say that you're the only reactor that I can actually listen to for a full five minutes, without skipping over it altogether! You captured my attention from jump and found content that was original and very interesting for me to know! I really love tidbits of info about a song or artist but without just verbalizing a bunch of Wiki at me until my eyes glaze over and I just want to fall asleep! Secondly, and this is just IMHO, Mark Knopfler is one of my favorite guitarists, sharing that spot with really only one other person, being Derek Trucks, who not only played with the Allman Brothers from age 9-19, (if anyone wants to dispute that I will send you to an interview and give you the exact time stamp where Derek himself states it so). M.K. also has a gift in the sense that he will sing a lyric and allow the music to be a response, which I think you noted but stated differently. So very glad you did the Alchemy Tour. Great reaction to an amazing artist and song! If I have one complaint it would be talking over the song to share the lyrics at the same time. I just wanted to keep my critique honest. NOT intended to offend!
The night my friend and I went to Alchemy at Hammersmith TR was the encore after 2 hrs plus. Utter, utter joy. Clapping, dancing, cheering, crying. Lost my voice for a week ❤❤❤
Thanks once more for a great reaction. Truely (like many comments below) one of (if not THE) the best song from DS. Fun fact I learned a lot from your comments about the text. I usually don't care much about the text (english not beeing my main laguage. for one) and even in french I usually pay more attention to the music. Keep on with your amazing work. Music needs people like you Doug. 💖
I usually feel bothered by the comments superimposed on the video but your voice is so intonated and pleasant that I did not feel discomfort at any time. Thanks for the analysis.
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I consider Telegraph Road to be the ultimate Dire Straits song. While I'd never want to be a gatekeeper I believe that if you don't like TR you don't actually DS. Everything DS did well they did in this amazingly in this song. Amazing deep lyrics, amazing instruments, amazing solos, absolute control of mood and feel.
I love the sense of history, and the human pathos at the end: “I’ve seen desperation explode into pain, and I don’t wanna see it again…” 😭
So I have to agree with you or I'm not a DS fan? Fook off.
@@JohnBrooking4 Yes - and then tying it back to something concrete - "From all these signs saying 'sorry but we're closed'." Brilliant player, brilliant songwriter, AND a poet.
My favourite song by any artist. Tour de force.
Certainly his finest moment as a composer and he’s had some mighty fine moments.
We mustn't forget Mr Knopfler wrote the words and music, arranged it, then sang and played his guitar as only he can.
Every thing in this MASTERPIECE came from him alone.
The mans a GENIUS.
Long may he reign 😊...
I've always loved the line _"... six lanes of traffic, three lanes moving slow."_ Great imagery, at least in my own mind!
I’m always torn if that line or if “Then came the churches, then came the schools, then came the lawyers, then came the rules” is the greatest lyric ever.
Let’s call it a tie.
And those birds tapping out their Telegraph Code
“They can always fly away from this rain and this cold…”
And then the music slows down as well.
EDIT: And then Doug calls it out as well. :P
And the guitar soars and swoops
Best Dire Straits song in their entire catalog and a relatively unappreciated epic classic.
not just the best DS song, but the best song ever recorded in music history!
😍@@pmocityzocsy inevitably you're so damn Right!
I grew up in Toledo Ohio. Telegraph Road, also known as US-24, ran from Toledo up through Monroe and Detroit Michigan where it terminates into I-75 after North Detroit.
For me, Telegraph Road embodied shattered dreams and escape. I tried to join the military back in 1980, fresh out of high school. Because of a bike accident when I was younger, I was told I couldn't join. I had based my entire future on being in the military.
Telegraph Road became my escape. Living in Toledo and the greater Northwest Ohio area was a dead-end. No future for me there....
I used to drive the length of Telegraph road. It was something to do and an escape from the mind-numbing boredom I faced living in Toledo. It was on Telegraph Road that I would make a fateful decision that changed the course of my life forever.
Fast-forward 40 years.... I'm looking at a nice retirement in a few months, thanks to the head-space and thought-provoking miles that Telegraph Road gave me. It gave me a way out and a path forward into a successful career.
Thanks to Telegraph Road, my golden years will be rich and fulfilling. Can you imagine my happiness when Dire Straits wrote a song about that empty, lonely
road? Such a fitting tribute...... :-)
You lived it, we dream of it over here!. Good Luck to you Mate.
It’s the story of the expansion of the west
Telegraph Road doesn't actually go through Detroit. The closest it gets is Dearborn.
The Telegraph Road is a major north-south 70 mile thoroughfare in Michigan. Mark Knopfler was inspired to write this song while riding in the front of the tour bus, which made the journey down Telegraph Road. At the time, Knopfler was reading the novel The Growth Of the Soil by the Nobel Prize winning Norwegian author Knut Hamsun and he was inspired to put the 2 together and write a song about the beginning of the development along Telegraph Road and the changes over the ensuing decades. This was a metaphor for the development of America and the ruining of one man's dreams in the wake of its decline, in particular focusing on unemployment.
Best comment so far.
'Telegraph Road' is an anthem if not a magnum opus... lyrically and musically it's a story of life and humanity.
MK's concluding solo is one of the greatest ragings against the dying of the light that any musician has ever created.
If Mark Knopfler's music doesn't move you, you're emotionally bankrupt.
Yes Mate always laughed to myself that Mark was the Pick Expert but Pick Withers was the Drummer
I’ve been listening to this since I was a child in the back of my father’s car. Even as a six year old, I couldn’t help but cry. I didn’t understand the song, but Mark is such a brilliant composer that he can tell a story with sound alone.
Almost 40 years later and I’m still captivated by this song and performance.
Modern music can’t touch this. It’s not just nostalgia. Who else can do this, and do audiences have the patience to listen to 14 minute songs?
I was the nerdy kid in school listening to Dire Straits on my Sony Walkman while the cool kids were into hip hop. That suited me just fine - and still does. My favourite live album ever.
You mean you listened to great music and they listened to crap!
@@PeterJohnson76 couldn't agree more!
Not sure, Alchemy and On the night were so good. I think on the night has the edge.
Ha hah...exactly myself.
Same here! :)
My favorite DS track ever. The original version is great, but the Alchemy version is superb!
Same for me. I am now not truely listening actively listening to Dire Straits, and yet, I have listened to this song so often that I could still sing 80% of the music, be it drums, piano or guitar. I love this song
Same and... today I learned that the Telegraph Road of the song was the one I lived near in two different houses thirty miles apart. So I like it even more.
the Alchemy version is my fav along with Private Investigation
THEE GREATEST Dire Straits song ever, that all those years ago, the song that sold me on the band, I saw them in Edinburgh and guess what they never played it GUTTED X 1 MILLION
Personally, I prefer later post-DS versions, e.g. ruclips.net/video/Bo4vL513cBU/видео.html
When Mark added Alan Clark as a full time member on keys the band completely changed, in a good way.
The starting lineup also has its own romance. But I agree that the keys of Clark and Guy, percussion, etc. - it added scale.
@@alexanderbespalov9659 No disrespect to Pick Withers for his early drumming years with DS but when Terry Williams was added it gave them a much harder edge which I loved. DS were my favourite band from my 70's / 80's youth & continue to be my go to band for a feelgood vibe when I'm feeling low. Far better than the manufactured bands of today.
This is the song where Alan Clark really made his input as a briliant and extremily emotional keyboard player. Just listen to the solo after ”three lanes moving slow”, it really is one of the most beatiful intros ever leading to a dialogie between guitar and piano.
Too bad Knopfler abadoned that after 1983.
Alan's voicings inversions and bach like arrangement made this song
Can we also acknowledge and appreciate how flawless DR were in a live setting.
Agreed. Mark has previously commented that there isn't a single overdub / correction on the whole of Alchemy, it is totally as-played. Amazing.
100% agree -- I saw them 3 times live and each time absolute perfection!
Some bands are simply better live. DR is certainly one of those.
I am always suspicious of bands that don't sounds as good live. I won't mention names :-)
Who is DR ?
@@jeffvanderwerf3391 who is DR ?
I never realized was "THE" Telegraph Road in Detroit. We lived 3 miles from the north end of Telegraph Road, then a I lost my job and found another further south. We bought a house closer to my new job, and that house was only a half mile from Telegraph Road.... but nearly 30 miles from our old house. So his impression of the road being a long, linear-developed road is spot-on... "like a rolling river." For most of its length it's perfectly straight, part of the very regular grid of roads on 1 mile spacing in and around Detroit.
I always identified with several of verses; I've lived them, when I lived near Telegraph Road. The verse about driving home in the freeze? Yeah, lived it. The verse about getting laid off? Yeah lived it. The "race between the lights"? Yeah.... and got a ticket doing it on Telegraph Road. "Sorry but we're closed".... I was going to say it was a predictor of the auto industry's collapse, but really it's the story of the boom-and-bust cycle of any major city dependent on a single industry. Just making the connection to Detroit's Telegraph Road makes this song even more relevant to me. And oh by the way... I was living there in the 1990s when the radio call-in show was broadcast.
I always think Mark was not recognised for his great lyrics...he was such a super storyteller...in the classic folk tradition....and of course...a guitar virtuoso...this song neatly illustrates his genius..
One correction: he still is
Don't worry, many of us totally recognise Mark for the brilliant storyteller as well as guitar god that he is
The radio schedules (almost) never play DR. Probably too long but shame on them for ignoring its genius.
By the way, got the same stressor’s discussed, the road could so easily have been Great North Road (A1) of Eastern England, especially in the North East where Mark grew up.
@@Dave5843-d9m yes! it could be that same road! "Southbound Again" as the song goes!
@@Dave5843-d9m Actually in and interview MK said he was in the front seat of a tour bus in Michigan and saw the name on the highway they were traveling on... Telegraph Rd; wrote the song using imagery from the book he was reading at the time.
The structure of this song fascinates: the story of the birth, growth, and decline of a trail that became a major road of a major industrial city. It begins with a simple melody nearly Appalachian, Mark's resonator guitar with dulcimer-like overtones. Then the music builds and broadens as the road and city build. Then you get the apex and nadir in one simple phrase: "six lanes of traffic, three moving slow.." Then, notice: the music actually stops for a few seconds (the crowd, still clapping, doesn't notice). When the music begins again, with the keyboard, it is subdued, melancholy. When Mark comes back in with lyrics, it's very personal -- what's happening to him. And the music becomes more desperate and angry. By the end he is almost resigned, but then defiant. Just brilliant writing, musically and vocally.
Great comment
I've said it here already: Alchemy is the best live album of the 80s
To me, it's in the top 3 live albums of rock music
Alchemy, Made in Japan and one out of The Who's Live at Leeds and Hawkwind's Space Ritual
Alchemy, Delicate Sound of Thunder, Live after Death ??????? Please don't make me choose!!!!!
Unequivocal. A musical exclamation point. As important to musical history as any live performance before or since… The Allman Brothers live at the Fillmore, SRV at Austin City Limits, Hendrix playing the National Anthem at Woodstock… and The Alchemy performance by Dire Straits. Personally, I include Tedeschi Trucks live at Red Rocks but not too many people are familiar with them. ✌🏼
@@sobrietyisoverrated I'd love to hear Doug get into some Tedeschi Trucks Band. I watched Rick Beato's interview of Derek the other day, and he's such a brilliant musician.
Is hard when is the same decade that features "The name of this band is Talking Heads". But I agree. Mark and the whole band was at their peak that night
It's so nice to see a reaction to a Dire Straits song that isn't Sultan of Swing. *That's a great song live but c'mon, people:* Dire Straits has put out some absolutely EPIC songs over the years! Things like Private Investigations, Tunnel of Love & The Man's Too Strong. And some very soothing, hypnotic tunes like Wild West End & Water of Love. Let's explore that stuff!
i concur.
The Man’s Too Strong…..underrated masterpiece.
Going Home
Am I the only person who loves Lady Writer? It has some of Mark's tastiest licks ever.
@@robbaskerville253 Definitely not….one of my favourites too. I agree on the licks and the performance on YT is almost contemptuously good.
Once again British music leading the World.
British musician dude. But american music.
I was so fortunate to see them live back then. I'm a HUGE dire straits fan. Telegraph road always reminded me that this sounded like something Springsteen would do. Love it!!!! 😀♥️♥️
Yeah, I always got a strong Springsteen vibe off it as well.
I was just thinking the same thing while listening to it.
@@TheAsphyx666 I was thinking: such a distinctive voice-closest thing in My mind is Dylan.
Tunnel of Love versus Water of Love 🤔
I love 70s/80s Bruce, but he couldn’t touch this. Maybe lyrically and with Roy Bittan’s piano playing, but certainly not the guitar playing...
When I listen to the lyrics, it often brings tears to my eyes. I suppose it’s bc I’m 52 now and the way Mark captures historical moments is incredible. It makes me realise just how different these gifted musicians are to regular folk like me. They truly have the ability to tap into the magic of the universe. It’s almost as if they discover these songs as opposed to creating them. Make no mistake, only the gifted can discover such beauty and convey it via their instruments that they’ve mastered.
Alchemy: One of THE best live performances of all time.
their lives are all best, because they change original song and create new level of it, they are only ones they do that on their live concerts
So true. I think it's so good (besides it being Dire Straits and Mark Knopfler), is because they're all having so much fun.
Oh, Doug, you should have listened to the studio version. The opening is so atmospheric and beautiful and the guitar solos are sublime. Go listen now and compare and contrast. You should also listen to Private Investigations.
Private Investigations, seconded.
The studio tracks and the live versions have their own magic
I don't know how many time I had listened to this song (the whole album, if I'm honest) on headphone in my bunk aboard, and being immediately transported in an other place... and it works everytime.
So glad you listened and shared this one with us Doug. TR is and has been a long time favorite of mine.
The “beautiful guitar” in the opening is Mark’s 1937 National Style O resonator he bought off an old friend in 1978. Of course, it features on their song Romeo and Juliet in open G tuning; capo on third fret, and also on the cover of their Brothers In Arms album.
The Alchemy version is by far and away the most emotive, and the end is just a thing to be savored. Just emotion pouring out. Also, whoever did the sound mixing & recording at that show was an absolute genius. It actually made my father buy a CD player. The Sony CDP-101 in the 80's, just so he could hear it clearly. This was the only album we had on CD for a while.
I grew up with classical music until 15 when i took a working record player home from scrap and searching for a suitable record in the library with no idea of rock music i judged the book by it's cover and took home Telegraph Road. An Eye opener! Two years later i bought my first CD player, and because money ran out, for some time Telegraph Road was the only compact disc, i spend endless hours listening to this album!
My copy for the car was on the best tapes I could get my hands on to record off CD!
DS are great in concerts... But studio version of Telegraph Road is perfect!!! Piano.... Guitar... OMG!!
A treat for audiophiles, for sure.
Definitely some of the best acoustic keyboard work anywhere in the rock world.
Absolutely! I don't mind this live version, but the studio puts the piano much more prominently in the mix. You can barely hear the piano embellishments here. The song still works without them, but _with_ them, it's "kicked up a notch", to put it mildly. Studio version definitely wins this comparison.
I agree.......see my comment.
agreed! As great as it is live, the studio version is better IMO
It is interesting how Brits visiting the USA notice things that inspire music, literature and art. The vast open spaces and sheer speed of development are alien to us but fascinating too. When I hear Telegraph Road I always think my first visits there in the 1980s.
It is some of the most powerful and phenomenal story telling ever…I am a 70’s girl, Mark is my favourite guitarist, and this song goes along with Dr. Seuss and the Lorax, powerful stories for everyone!! Developing isn’t always the best!!
Form is temporary and class is permanent!!! These guys are class bagged up by the ton #majestic
This is one of my favourite songs ever, glad you did a reaction to it. Mark Knopfler describes his music generally as a mixture of rock and where the Tyne meets the Delta. Tyne being a river in the North East of England near the Scottish Border where he grew up, and by the Delta he meant the Mississippi Delta... by that he means a combination of British Folk/Celtic and Blues/American Folk and more recently Country music as well.
There's something about the North East, you hvae Mark Knopfler, Sting and Chris Rea...
@@melanierhianna You aren't wrong... Jimmy Nail, Brian Johnson, Alan Price....
@@melanierhianna In fairness Mark isn't really from Tyneside, his mother was... he was from Glasgow, but he moved to Newcastle when he 7 and does consider himself a Geordie.
Couldn't click on this fast enough to see your reaction to this great song. Thank you for this. The great Terry Williams is the drummer. Pick Withers left by this time.
yep good catch, this guy really changed the band for the better
Having known Terry Williams' previous work with Man, it's difficult to think of anybody better to have replaced Pick.
As an absolute fan of Dire Straits since my teens, and having listened to this particular track hundreds of time, what a joy it was to tune in here. Love how you slot in elements of music theory which just adds all the more to my appreciation as to what a brilliant group of musicians the band were. And, like you, when it came to the final few mins, I was boogie-ing. Wish you had brought your keyboard out :))
What’s also amazing is that Mark Knopfler can’t read music. He’s also left-handed but plays guitar right-handed. He’s absolutely brilliant. 👍👍👍👍👍
Written about Telegraph Road in my hometown Detroit
Mark used to write for a newspaper, he really knows how to tell a story.
I grew up a few blocks from Telegraph Road in the 60s. Always been a favorite. Have seen DS/Knopfler a few times. Always a great show!
@@ericleins4081 in the 1990s I lived 3 miles from the north end of Telegraph Road, on Walton Ave. in Auburn Hills, then moved 30 miles to Dearborn to a house that was only a half mile from Telegraph Road. It never occurred to me that the Telegraph Road in the song was the one in Detroit. Cool, huh?
Completely agree, David, Mark is a fantastic story teller! In my late 50s now, and listen to lots of music.....to this day MK is still my all-time favorite lyricist! Cheers!
It flows through all of his music. Started with sultans, where he happened across a band of the same name and tells the story. A lot of songs on communique have the journalistic influence. Then Romeo and Juliet a song about his own relationship has it. Private investigations is also very directly telling a story. Perhaps the most famous one is money for nothing. Listening to the guys in the electrical store watching MTV. Notepad in hand having the song unfold in front of him. Such a great style and I'm sure I've missed many other great stories he's written.
He used to play in a band called "Brewer's Droop", he really knows the regret of a minor chord.
I was lucky enough to have seen them on this tour. You could have heard a pin drop when they got to each of the quiet moments in this track. Brilliant song, brilliant band and brilliant story. Thanks for the reaction. Keep on Rocking,.
Hey Doug, thanks for breaking this one down and sharing your comments to this wonderful song. I’ve been a huge Dire Straits fan for all of my life, Mark being the sole reason to get into guitar playing myself. This song accompanies me throughout my years and every single time it gives me goosebumps. Last time playing this one in the car I actually drove by my own house since the song wasn’t finished yet. I really think that dIRE sTRAITS where as their best as a band around the time of this recording. Obviously there so much more that followed after that coming from Mark Knoplfers urge to produce such great songs. Every one of them paints a little picture and has a nice story to it, which you see happening in front of you, similar to Telegraph Road. Mark is not only a fantastic 🎸 player with an unique style, more over he’s a great song writer with a very authentic voice as well. You might wanna check out Mark’s solo albums for that. Thanks again and all best from The Netherlands 🇳🇱 Michael
"Love Over Gold" was one of my first 3 CDs when they first came out. I had rented a CD player in case they didn't catch on!
It was the very first CD I purchased back in the early-mid '80s when I could finally afford a CD player. I was looking for albums that had great dynamics because digital recordings were supposed to have a wider dynamic range. The first music store I went to didn't have "wish you were here", but they did have "love over gold", so it was my very first one.
I was a very disappointed teenager when I discovered that I could hear tape hiss from the original recordings in the quiet parts. Apparently lots of early cds were rushed to market from inferior master tapes.
Monster album… right after TR you get Private Investigations, which is a masterpiece as well. I enjoy it all, especially the last three minutes of “It Never Rains,” an outro that stands equal with any of MK’s master solos.
My favourite DS track, from my favourite DS album, and indeed one of my all-time general favourites. Lyrics as good as they get - and did you pick up the crowd singing along, right from the very start? You picked the best version of it. And thanks (again) Doug - your explanations of the structure of the song helped me understand just why its music has always had such an effect on me. So glad you enjoyed and were impressed with this superb song, by the superb Knopfler and his band. I really enjoyed your reaction to it.
Iconic! Complete pleasure to listen to even after 30+ years. OMG... this band.
I know, right! Awesome!
I saw them live 6 times, and Knopfler solo once. They were superb. This is one of their best numbers.
Mark is a true poet in the sense but also a guitar virtuoso.
Terry Williams is on the live recording, Pick Withers had moved on by then. While Mark didn't always get what he wanted from Terry in the studio (he was infamously replaced by Omar Hakim for most of Brothers in Arms), Alchemy leaves no doubt that he was a monster live - in a good sense.
Omar is amazing
Wasn’t Terry once with Welsh band the highly underrated MAN?
@@grahamhowes6904Yes, and he was good to himself at least once a day.
Terry Williams was just the best Dire Straits ever had.
Ha! I copied the lyrics out and submitted it to my teacher as original poetry and got my first "A".
The teacher gave me more A's after that, so thanks, Mark, for helping me break the lock of my improved marks at school. I was 12.
This song is a gem and so is Mark Knopfler. I haven't heard this is a long time - really enjoyed being reintroduced to it through your reaction. Nice one, Doug!
HI Doug!
In my opinion, TR is the best song Mark Knopfler ever written. I listened to it thousand times when I went back from school. Was the first thing I did after closing the door. Run to the turntable and put the "Love over gold" LP . Your choice of taking the live recording for your reaction, I think it was wrong, but interesting. The greatness of the studio version deserves to be listened and analyzed, because of the quality of their production. Sounds really haunting and need to be listened a few times to catch all on it.
Thanks for your videos, I really apreciate them.
Just want to add another vote for favorite track of all time. Also, The drummer on this one isn't Pick withers, it's the awesome Terry Williams.
I love that this is one of the rare rock songs that includes a piano solo
Layla is another great. Piano solo, then accompanied by slide guitar courtesy of Dwayne Allman
Try Springsteen thunder road jungleland etc
"You had your head on my shoulder, you had your hand in my hair
, now you act a little colder like you don't seem to care."
This gets me every freakin time and I dont know why.
btw: I consider Sailing to Philadelphia to be a later released prequel of this masterpiece. Mark, a poet who's also pretty good with the axe. ;D
That line always gets me too…at the same time nostalgic and bitterly sad. This might be the only song that gives me goosebumps AND brings a tear every time I hear it
This song is so emotional and beautiful.
Becides a top guitarist and musician he was a lecturer of English at University . I believe he also has 3 Doctors degrees
Hey Doug Mark worked as a reporterfor The yorkshire post newspaper here in leeds England ,Telegraph road is outstanding ...Genesis do a very similar song called Driving the last spike ..well worth a listen y'all ..regards Chris over the water in blighty ....
Doug's reaction to that little delayed resolve the muscly keyboard player plays is why I watch this channel. Love your appreciation of the little beautiful details of composition and performance. Thank you Doug.
If I could only hear one track for the rest of my life it would be this one. It has everything. I was five when the album and I was obsessed with this live version of TR. Made me want to play the guitar and I still do.
I think I love your lyrical insight the most you seem to see more in the words than I ever do. Thank you.
The fucking finest performance of any band EVER.
That analysis of the story yhis song tells inthe last minutes was AWESOME!! You nailed it talking about how the song tells the story and evolution of society through the evolutions of a track to a road to serve the needs of that society. Inspiring and really deep. Thaks a lot.
I bought "Love over Gold" in my teens in -83 I think and still clench my fists to white knuckles while listening "Telegraph road".
I grew up with Dire Straits and for me this is their best song.
I remember back in the -80's, a guy from my house bought the VHS cassette of Alchemy and I got to watch it. It was a mindblowing experience seeing the band play.
Good stuff.
Thanks for the video, great content again. 🤘
Dear Doug, I respect you so much as a musician and you have surely great knowledge and sensibility above all for harmony. Still, I see that you put too much emphasis on chords and harmony than in other aspects of music. I have a classical background as well and I studied in the Conservatory in Italy and I remember once I asked to my harmony teacher: "Maestro, when you listen a music do you focus on chords and intervals?" and he answered "no, I forget about it". Once you have analized and you know which is the harmonic structure, in my opinion you have to forget about it and enjoy all the other aspects in music, like melody, rhytms, colors, tymbres, arrangement, technic of the players. Harmony is like a glass, but melody and other aspects are the content in the glass. How is possible not to notice and remark the amazing ability and peculiar technic of Mark Knopfler as a guitarist? He plays great and memorable solos in this song, with amazing musical taste. The whole final part of the song with the last solo you were still noticing the harmonic structure, to the detriment of the emotionality of the song that was reaching its emotional climax with the guitar as prominent role. I hope you will consider this constructive criticism of mine, I still follow you with much appreciation. 😊
Well said.
With Doug's videos you know you're always going to get a verbal tab of each song. 😉
nailed it
I disagree. There are loads of people out there giving their emotional reactions to songs, many of them probably not even genuine, and that becomes boring very quickly. This channel offers something different, and it ought to be welcomed for that. Not all of us have a classical music education, so the small amount of harmonic analysis we are given can add to the appreciation of the song, even if it may have been the last thing on the mind of the composer when he was writing it.
@@delorangeade I don't think we are disagreeing at all. I agree with everything you wrote and I do not see that your words in any way contradict mine. As I wrote I appreciate this channel over others, otherwise I would not follow it. At the same time, among enthusiasts, one can also have different approaches and there is always room for reciprocal growth. Understanding and knowing harmony is certainly good, but it should not become a cage that imprisons the listener: music is a universal language that goes far beyond formal rules. I don't think I have a higher level of preparation than Doug, but I certainly have a broader listening education than he does, because in my case classical studies have in no way generated a limitation or a restriction of musical prospective as happens to many. I love Opera, Classical music, Jazz, Rock and Heavy Metal since I was 10 years old even before I learnt how to play various musical instruments and study at the Conservatory. From classical studies one comes out often very framed, they teach you that harmony and counterpoint are everything in music (the limits of this conception and education are quite evident in Doug's approach). Actually it depends everything on what are you listening; analyzing a song by a rock band like Dire Straits requires a different sensitivity and approach than listening a Choral piece or a Bach composition for organ. At the same time, in order to appreciate a twelve-tone composition or a free jazz piece by Ornette Coleman, one must abandon the classical rules of tonal music. I'm sure there is room for learning and growing even for a Classical Composer, exchanges of opinions and interactions help to expand one's mind and horizons.
Mark is becoming a folk type. Once he left Dire Straits, his solo career was so very interesting, coming even closer to Folk.
'Je Suis Desolee, and Journey to Philidelphia' all are wonderful as well. The man is Legend.
That guitar is called Dobro (DOpiera BROthers), invented by Dopyer brothers, sons of immigrant from Slovakia.
I remember, ages ago in my teens, buying the Love over Gold vinyl album. Got home and started to listen and felt very disappointed for the first 10 or 20 seconds. It was not what I was expecting at all. That disappointment soon vanished and this song is right up there among my favourite Dire Straits songs. Magnificent story telling and musicians at the top of their game. Thank you for another good memory.
Thanks for doing this. I've loved this song for a long time and found it to be one of my favorite long-form rock tunes. My degree in Geography draws me to the sad line just before the bridge "six lanes of traffic, three lanes moving slow" as what we geo-nerds refer to as a "zone of discard." My favorite musical moment is the little piano line during the lament "life was just a bet on a race between the lights."
This is outstanding!
30+ years explained why I love this stuff.
The Dm F progression seems to be common to most of my favourite Mark Knopfler songs. I always got a strong Bruce Springsteen vibe from this, with the keyboards, the storytelling and that it was written about America. I always preferred Tunnel of Love, where Mark is singing about the place where he grew up. It seems more meaningful, more personal and less generic. Telegraph Road is still a great song though.
Always thought that. The Springsteen vibe.
Yeah, that would be the 'Spanish City', which was a kind of seaside fairground place very close to where Mark grew up. You can almost smell the diesel of the generators powering the rides while you listen to 'Tunnel of Love'. Truly epic.
@@timwebber9277 There's a video where he is talking about it with Brian Johnson of AC/DC, but Tunnel of Love is my favourite Dire Straits song for exactly the reason you describe.
Yes, this song is to Dire Straits what Jungleland is to Bruce Springsteen. Incredible storytelling.
@@Pulsar77 The song ends with two mushroom cloud blasts. Bruce never thought of that
For me this song is about how it all falls together so nicely. The rhyme, the hook, the melody, it's a divine many-dimensional fit.
If it's inspired by a Nobel winning book, the sing might well be a greater masterpiece. The author would be proud.
This is one of my favorite Dire Straits songs. Tunnel of Love and Brothers in arms are other two great songs.
I always love the lyrics an thee story this song tells us, but the music itself is sensational.
And I missed in this video that despite to talk about the chords, no take attention at the guitar solo, that has some memorables moments and some sounds like violins.
The guitar solo is incredible.
Man, I will never get tired of listening to Mark spin his masterful stories. I was born in Western Michigan back in '68. Dad enlisted in the Air Force 3 years later. Mom and I just moved back to a small town about 20 miles west of Pontiac. I delivered at least 200 trailers worth of automotive parts all over the Detroit metro area when I was driving long-haul 18 wheelers form 91-01. I wish Mark would do a version of this song with Bob Seger. This song perfectly grabs the soul and history of Detroit. Bob Seger, imo, is the true voice of Michigan (for R&R).
The three epics from DS: Sultans, Tunnel of Love and this one. Masterpieces each one. I've never been able to choose a winner. And I've been listening for 4 decades. They are indeed epic, each one.
My all time favorite song hands down. If you haven't heard it on an ultra high fidelity sound system you haven't heard it at its best.
😅👍
Ive heard so so many conclusions to this song, but yours is, in my view, by far and away, the most accurate, concise explanation of the meaning if this, one of my all time DS songs.
It was interesting to hear you throughout the video. Most pauses in review videos are simply annoying, but yours, sir, was (musically) illuminating, theoretically fascinating.
As a youth, l tried to learn music appreciation. Unfortunately, the area around keys, key signatures, I found totally incomprehensible! And made me realise that studying music was not for me. So to listen to an actual musician/composer wax so lyrically was not only so original on a RUclips made me almost as fascinated to listen to your commentary as one of my favourite songs.
Thank you so much, it was a true joy to watch this video.
Correction….the drummer is Terry Williams! Pik Withers was the bands original drummer.
Bingo. Terry previously played in Rockpile with Dave Edmunds & Nick Lowe and in the Welsh jam band Man.
I was there on the night at Hammersmith Odeon, if I remember rightly. This was actually the encore. And what an encore!
As a person who lives 20 mins from Telegraph Rd. MI, this is friggin awesome. Telegraph sure does go a long way
This. Is. Dire. Straits... and this is a masterpiece... I think last part is absolutely improvisation... they could be doing and doing it... but then decided to end... "this was enough"...
Wow... Thank You! First experienced Knopflers's genius my on a school bus to a sports event my senior year in HS 1978... have heard Telegraph Road countless times in my life but never appreciated or understood the depth till just now... THANK YOU Doug! And YES absolutely wonderful performance!
I've seen several comparisons in the past between the "Love over gold" album and Pink Floyd's "Wish you were here". Certainly this track makes me think the lyrics match Roger Water's incredible talent for telling a story and capturing emotion and David Gilmour's virtuoso guitar playing. Mark Knopfler is simply outstanding.
This song always brings me tears. Gotta put the old record playing!
You have an excellent presentation of the harmonic progressions. It would be really cool to engage with some classical music in this channel, since I truly believe rock and metal fans will enjoy and appreciate.
Doug only discovered your videos today..love what you do and the way you talk us through the music..👍
This live performance contains all the wonderful stuff that tends to be lacking in modern live shows. Freedom, improvisation, danger, heart, tempo changes... everything that makes a performance unique. Today most live shows are played to a click and there aren't many ways of just letting it go wild like in this song. As much as I respect virtuosity on stage (e.g. Dream Theater), they are never able to deliver surprises like this. And the thing is, I never seem to get bored listening to this song because I always get a warm feeling inside me, and for a moment the world feels like a better place.
Musicianship. A dying art
Very interesting review, as always, of a great song Doug. So glad you enjoyed it.
I never in a million years would have thought my old mailing list would ever be mentioned anywhere. Pre-interwebs.
I love the way how Doug play on the invisible drums))))
I'd really like to say that your interpretations are really inspiring. How beautifully can an abstract thing be explained? I love to watch these kind of reaction videos based on my favourite songs and I think this is the best. Thank you for your inspiring reaction :)
I am so glad you enjoyed this one Doug. It is one of my favourites. Such an awesome song and band.
Hello Doug! I'm a (Belgian) fan of your channel and also of Dire Straits. Telegraph Road is one of my favorites. I remember I chose this tracks for my English lessons at secondary school. Our teacher gave us the opportunity to bring our favorite songs. So I brought this one. I remember he liked it too. His interpretation of the synth-sounds in the beginning was that it was an imitation of the 'ringing' you could hear if you pressed your ears against a telegraph pole. Thanks for sharing this with us!
Doug, thanks for doing Telegraph Road. Had been hoping you would do it one day. For mine, the greatest piece of music ever written. Hasn't been topped in 40 years!
The Alchemy album is one of the great live recordings. I loved Dire Straits and Marks later stuff like Sailing to Philadelphia but nothing compares to his Dire Straits stuff. The first album was a game changer in the age of disco. It saved my 16 year old ears. The Brothers in Arms made me buy a CD player in early 80s dollars - it was the profit from many ounces of weed for my poor broke college student ass 😉. I still listen to the albums decades later. Wish I could say the same about new recordings these days - how many have even close to this level of complexity in a rock and roll song? How many could hold your interest for 14 minutes?
This song is a beautiful epic masterpiece and Mark Knopler, the self taught guitarist with his own unique sound is as always superb! Another awesome similar style of song of theirs is Going home.
I love how the music tempo changes to reflect time in transition. In the first movement the beat remind you of walking. Then it transitions to a galloping beat like a horse. Transitioning to a chuging beat like a locomotive. And finally the sound finishes in modern traffic.
Mark is, and will probably always be, my favorite guitar player. Mind you, next favorite is Really close and REALLY full. Guys like SRV, Stephen Stills, Jimi, Clapton, Peter Green, Peter White, Wes Montgomery... et- al
Hey! First off, I want to say that you're the only reactor that I can actually listen to for a full five minutes, without skipping over it altogether! You captured my attention from jump and found content that was original and very interesting for me to know! I really love tidbits of info about a song or artist but without just verbalizing a bunch of Wiki at me until my eyes glaze over and I just want to fall asleep! Secondly, and this is just IMHO, Mark Knopfler is one of my favorite guitarists, sharing that spot with really only one other person, being Derek Trucks, who not only played with the Allman Brothers from age 9-19, (if anyone wants to dispute that I will send you to an interview and give you the exact time stamp where Derek himself states it so). M.K. also has a gift in the sense that he will sing a lyric and allow the music to be a response, which I think you noted but stated differently. So very glad you did the Alchemy Tour. Great reaction to an amazing artist and song! If I have one complaint it would be talking over the song to share the lyrics at the same time. I just wanted to keep my critique honest. NOT intended to offend!
The night my friend and I went to Alchemy at Hammersmith TR was the encore after 2 hrs plus. Utter, utter joy. Clapping, dancing, cheering, crying.
Lost my voice for a week ❤❤❤
Thanks once more for a great reaction. Truely (like many comments below) one of (if not THE) the best song from DS.
Fun fact I learned a lot from your comments about the text. I usually don't care much about the text (english not beeing my main laguage. for one) and even in french I usually pay more attention to the music.
Keep on with your amazing work. Music needs people like you Doug. 💖
My favorite Dire Straits song !! I really enjoy your chord analysis. Great job!!
One of my favorite Dire Straits songs... got me to your channel... so... congrats... you got a new subscriber :D
I usually feel bothered by the comments superimposed on the video but your voice is so intonated and pleasant that I did not feel discomfort at any time. Thanks for the analysis.
This song is poetry at it's finest! Thank you so much for your thoughts and insights