#PCPiece 01/12/2018: Sultans of Swing
Today’s Pop Culture Piece: Sultans of Swing from Dire Straits (1978)
Okay, this song has been in my head for a week or so now, and I don’t think it’s ever going to leave. I found Dire Straits (the band, not the album) from seeing the music video for their song Money for Nothing, a video I think everybody should watch, heavily appreciate, and then make fun of for how dated it looks. But that’s a topic for another day. I didn’t listen to the band much, but this song came on the radio one day a while back and I was encapsulated by the melody, the lyrical stylings, and that amazing guitar part.
Seriously, I know it’s been said before, but I have to reiterate how great Mark Knopfler is at playing guitar. There is an extended video performance of the band playing this song where he improvises during the solo and the song goes to a little over 10 minutes, and It. Is. Glorious. I’ll link that video at the end, please go watch it.
I think the lyrics of the song are really the strong suit, especially when mixed with the rhythm and lead guitars in the song. Where Money for Nothing was much more a drum-centric song, this seems much more geared towards Knopfler as the band’s frontman. No complaints from me. The chords played on the guitar (presumably by Guitar George) are so unconventional but evocative and fit everything so well.
The lyrics in the song paint this picture in my mind of a dive bar just outside of a small town. It has this community of regulars but never really anybody new. You’re just a listener passing through town, and the night you’re there, the Sultans of Swing play. It’s this relaxing and neon-tinged picture that makes me feel at ease. Those final lines of the song feel like the perfect closer for a show: the Sultans take a bow, finish out their song, and all the bar patrons shuffle out and back to their homes. Every time I listen, I can see all of them picking up their hats, swinging them around in rhythm with the vocals, and bowing to the muffled applause from the smoky bar. If I had any artistic talent, I’d probably try and paint it. It’d look terrible, but it’d be fun.
In any case, after a long day at work, or a grueling homework assignment or project, this is the perfect song to wind down and end the day. I get eased into this quaint little bar, get to see the band play, and then take a bow with them as I finish whatever I’m doing. Beautiful.
Goodnight, now it’s time to go home. And I’ll make it fast with one more thing. Go check out Sultans of Swing if you haven’t heard it before. It’s a great song and a classic piece of rock and roll history. Here’s the 1978 performance I was talking about earlier, and just for fun, here’s a breakdown of how Knopfler plays guitar in the song, because his technique would require an analysis itself. And with that, the time bell has just rang.
Thanks for reading! This segment, #PCPiece, is a semi-daily (sometimes weekly) showcasing of popular culture artifacts that are on my mind or are particularly interesting to me. It’ll have highlights of books, art, games, music, movies, and anything else that strikes my fancy. You can follow @nerdboysocial on Twitter for updates and new entires as well.
