Alla fine, arrivati al terzo album, Knopfler si stanca dei Dire Straits e decide che è ora di intraprendere una propria carriera solita mandando a quel paese un gruppo che non gli ha mai permesso di esprimere la propria creatività. Stiamo parlando di David, ovviamente; Mark, quell'altro, si butta a capofitto nella realizzazione di un disco che cambia il volto dei Dire Straits e li proietta verso la nuova decade vestiti per stupire e con un promesso ruolo da protagonisti.
Arrivati al terzo album il rischio di proseguire sulla falsariga dei primi due lavori era concreto, così come la conseguente naturale discesa nell'anonimato, ma già al primo ascolto salta all'orecchio che l'intro squisitamente melodico di "Tunnel of love" ("Carousel Waltz", una melodia di Rodgers e Hammerstein recuperata da Mark Knopfler in un qualche negozietto di dischi) non ha niente a che vedere con l'inizio timido e silenzioso di "Down to the waterline" o "Once upon a time in the west". La differenza si coglie subito, ci vuole il tempo di arrivare al primo bridge di "Tunnel of love" per avere tutto chiaro in mente: Knopfler ha svoltato, ha capito di poter suonare la sua chitarra come un pifferaio magico farebbe con il suo piffero (magico) e quello che ci aspetta nelle prossime sei tracce non avrà quasi più niente a che vedere con il blues-rock dei primi due dischi. Prima di affrontare i successivi pezzi però c'è tempo per cancellare le ultime espressioni dubbiose dai visi scettici di chi si chiede se i Dire Straits non avrebbero fatto meglio a proseguire sulla loro precedente strada, ascoltando l'assolo conclusivo di "Tunnel of love" infatti non si può far altro che spalancare le braccia ed accoglierli, i "nuovi" Dire Straits, con tutta la gioia di sto mondo.
L'album propone poi, subito in seconda posizione giusto nel caso ci fosse ancora qualche irriducibie, quella che è destinata a diventare una ballata da insegnare a scuola: "Romeo and Juliet" seguirà Knopfler fino all'ultimo dei suoi concerti e milioni di cuori fino all'ultimo dei loro battiti. Una canzone inedita per il buon Mark, abituato a riempire i propri pezzi di assoli e fraseggi con la chitarra: qui si limita ad arpeggiare, e a cantare una storia d'amore. Nient'altro. "Skateaway" è ancora un pezzo anomalo, sebbene Knopfler torni a maneggiare la Fender dopo una serenata con il dobro: un tappeto di tastiera fa da sfondo ai suoi ritrovati divagamenti strumentali che si infilano quà e là quando la voce tace. "Expresso love", al quarto posto, si riallaccia a "Tunnel of love" e alle sue melodie costruite in quello stile rock romantico targato "New Dire Straits", in cui tastiera e chitarra giocano al gatto e al topo. La successiva "Hand in hand" è una nuova ballata più cupa e meno ariosa della monumentale "Romeo and Juliet", al numero due; in questo caso i sogni vengono lasciati da parte per dare spazio alla consapevolezza di un amore finito, la musica che costituisce questo pezzo suggerisce l'immagine di un pomeriggio passato in casa con le luci spente mentre fuori diluvia. Probabilmente uno dei pezzi più sottovalutati dell'intera carriera del gruppo, visto che mai è stata proposta dal vivo. Discorso opposto invece per la sesta canzone, la frizzante "Solid rock" che per centinaia di concerti è stata proposta come penultimo pezzo della scaletta, stesso ruolo che le tocca su questo disco quasi come se compito suo e della sua energia contagiosa fosse quello di non far rendere conto a nessuno che si va verso la fine.
La fine, qui, è "Les boys", la quale chiude l'album in modo piacevole pur rappresentando un abbassamento di livello rispetto a quanto ascoltato finora. Ciò tuttavia non intacca minimamente quello che è il primo disco dei nuovi Dire Straits, di Knopfler senza Knopfler, il loro tappeto rosso (con i bordi blu) verso l'eternità.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Tunnel of Love (08:08)
getting crazy on the waltzers but it's the life that I choose
sing about the sixblade sing about the switchback and a torture tattoo
and I been riding on a ghost train where the cars they scream and slam
and I don't know where I'll be tonight but I'd always tell you where I am
in a screaming ring of faces I seen her standing in the light
she had a ticket for the races just like me she was a victim of the night
I put a hand upon the lever said let it rock and let it roll
I had the one arm bandit fever there was an arrow through my heart and my soul
and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and I'm just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love
it's just the danger when you're riding at your own risk
she said you are the perfect stranger she said baby let's keep it like this
it's just a cake walk twisting baby step right up and see
hey mister give me two give me two now cos any two can play
and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and I'm just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love
well it's been money for muscle another whirligig
money for muscle and another girl I dig
another hustle just to make it big
and walkaway walkaway
and girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
oh girl it looks so pretty to me just like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
she took off a silver locket she said remember me by this
she put her hand in my pocket I got a keepsake and a kiss
and in the roar of the dust and diesel I stood and watched her walk away
I could have caught up with her easy enough but something must have made me
stay
and the big wheel keep on turning neon burning up above
and I'm just high on the world
come on and take a low ride with me girl
on the tunnel of love
and now I'm searching through these carousels and the carnival arcades
searching everywhere from steeplechase to palisades
in any shooting gallery where promises are made
to walkaway walkaway
to walkaway walkaway from cullercoats and whitley bay out to walkaway
and girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
girl it looks so pretty to me like it always did
like the spanish city to me when we were kids
02 Romeo and Juliet (05:54)
A love struck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Finds a street light, steps out of the shade
Says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?"
Juliet says, "Hey it's Romeo, you nearly gave me a heart attack"
He's underneath the window, she's singing, "Hey la, my boyfriend's back
You shouldn't come around here, singing up at people like that"
Anyway, what you gonna do about it?
Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start,
And I bet, then you exploded in my heart,
And I forget, I forget, the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
Come up on different streets, they both were streets of shame,
Both dirty, both mean, yes, and the dream was just the same,
And I dreamed your dream for you, and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?
Well, you can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, yeah
Now you just say, "Oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him"
Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said "I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die"
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
I can't do the talk like the talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song, like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything, but I'll do anything for you
I can't do anything 'cept be in love with you
And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
All I do is keep the beat and the band company
And all I do is kiss you, through the bars of a rhyme
Juliet, I'd do the stars with you, anytime
Ah Juliet, when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die
There's a place for us, you know the movie song
When you gonna realize, it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?
And a love struck Romeo, sings the streets a serenade,
Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made
Finds a convenient street light, steps out of the shade
Says something like, "You and me babe, how about it?"
"You and me babe, how about it?"
03 Skateaway (06:18)
i seen a girl on a one way corridor
stealing down a wrong way street
for all the world like an urban toreador
she had wheels on on her feet
well the cars do the usual dances
same old cruise and the kerbside crawl
but the rollergirl she's talking chances
they just love to see her take them all
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
hallelujah here she comes queen rollerball
enchante what can i say don't care at all
you know she used to have to wait around
she used to be the lonely one
but now that she can skate around town
she's the only only one
no fears alone at night she's sailing through the crowd
in her ears the phones are tight and the music's playing loud
she gets rock n roll in a rock n roll station
and a rock n roll dream
she's making movies on location
she don't know what it means
but the music make her wanna be the story
and the story was whatever was the song what it was
rollergirl don't worry
d.j. play the movies all night long
she tortures taxi drivers just for fun
she likes to read their lips
says toro toro taxi see ya tommorow my son
i swear she let a big truck graze her hip
she got her own world in the city
you can't intrude on her
she got her own world in the city
cos the city's been so rude to her
come slippin and a slidin
life's a rollerball
slipin and a slidin
skateaway that's all
shala shalay hey hey skateaway
she's singing shala shalay hey hey
skate away
05 Hand in Hand (04:48)
the sky is crying the streets are full of tears
rain come down wash away my fears
and all this writing on the wall
oh i can read between the lines
rain come down forgive this dirty town
rain come down and give this dirty town
a drink of water a drink of wine
if i been hard on you i never chose to be
i never wanted no one else
i tried my best to be somebody you'd close to
hand in hand like lovers are supposed to
as you'd sleep i'd think my heart will break in two
i'd kiss your cheek i'd stop my self from waking you
but in the dark you'd speak my name
you'd say baby what's wrong?
oh here i am baby i'm coming back for more
i'm like the wave that's got to roll into the shore
yes and if my love's in vain how come my love is so strong.
now you and me go parallel together and apart
and you keep your perfect distance and it's tearing in my heart
did you never feel the distance
you never tried to cross no line
now it's another dirty riverand another dirty scar
and i don't know who's kissing you and i don't know where you are
so far from home don't you think of me some time
sky is crying see the streets are full of tears
rain come down to wash away my fears
and all this writing on the wall
oh i can read between the lines
06 Solid Rock (03:19)
well take a look at that
i made a castle in the sand
saying this is where it's at you know
couldn't understand now
if i realised that the chances were slim
how come i'm so surprised when the tide rolled in
i wanna live on solid rock
i'm gonna live on solid rock
i wanna give i don't wanna be blocked
i'm gonna live on solid rock
well i'm sick of potential
i'm sick of vanity now
i'm sticking to essential reality now
i don't know what's worse
try to make a silk purse
living an illusion living in confusion
well a house of cards
was never built for shock
you could blow it down in any kind of weather
now two solid rocks two solid blocks
you know they're gonna stick
yeah they're gonna stick together
because the heart that you break
that's the one that you rely on
the bed that you make
that's the one you gotta lie on
when you point your finger cos your plan fell through
you got three more fingers pointing back at you
i wanna live on solid rock
i'm gonna live on solid rock
i wanna give i don't wanna be blocked
i'm gonna live on solid rock
i'm solid rock now
07 Les Boys (04:06)
les boys do cabaret
les boys are glad to be gay
they're not afraid now
disco bar in germany
les boys are glad to be
upon parade now
les boys got leather straps
les boys got ss caps
but they got no gun now
get dressed up get a little risque
got to do a little s & m these days
it's all in fun now
les boys come on again
for the high class whores
and the businessmen
who drive in their mercedes benz
to a disco bar in old munchen
they get the jokes that the d.j. makes
they get so nervous and they make mistakes
they're bad for buisness
some tourist take a photograph
les boys don't get one laugh
he says they're useless
late at night when they've gone away
les boys dream of jean genet
high heel shoes and a black beret
and the posters on the wall that say
les boys do cabaret
les boys are glad to be gay
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di claudio carpentieri
"Making Movies rappresenta la continua evoluzione di un gruppo in perenne ascesa."
"Tunnel Of Love apre le danze con un suono scintillante e un assolo finale da consacrati campioni."
Di carloirons
"In questo disco c'è il genio, la poesia, la musica di Mark e compagni."
"'Romeo And Juliet' è una delle più belle canzoni d'amore di sempre, dolcissima e triste allo stesso tempo."
Di Dany94
I Dire Straits sono l'esempio di come si fa musica.
Non finirò mai di amare quei 5 secondi!!
