Quick-n-Dirty Monday Night Open Thread: Then and Now

One of my handy topics for a last-minute open thread: Your favorite musician(s), then and now (or, well, later).

I have a lot of favorites, but here is one of the best: Mark Knopfler, doing "Water of Love" back in the Dire Straits days, and then again a couple of decades later. "Water of Love" is a great song, and I honestly cannot decide which version I like better because both are great. Mark Knopfler is amazingly gifted and he just keeps getting better and better.

1979:

1996:

Got any favorites?

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Thank you for mentioning Knopfler

geomoo's picture

I would put him right at the top. I know few people who feel this way. What I feel goes under-appreciated is his songwriting. Beautiful, profound songs. I could probably list ten examples off the top of my head. I'd start with People's Parties, because it's hilarious while quite bitter.

One of my favorite songs of all time, "5:15 AM", in which the ghosts of hard-working miners hover about a car parked near their cemetery. There is dead man inside, murdered from being involved in the businesses of organized crime which have taken over the previously honest hard-working town. It's both a tribute to the mining dead and rueful commentary on the present. Then the entire album, The Ragpicker's Dream, an ode to the working man with one great song after another. The title song has to be the best hobo song ever written. There's also Quality Shoe:

You got your toecaps reinforced with steel
Hard-wearing sole and heel
Make those tired feet feel like new
Take your pick, black or Brown
Great for the country or the man in town
You're gonna need a quality shoe

You don't want no stand-by pair
'Cos these'll take the wear and tear
Made to take good care of you
For that trip by road or rail
For extra grip on those rocky trails
You're gonna need a quality shoe

Now they maybe ain't too hot for dancing
But I don't foresee too much of that
You ain't exactly gonna be prancing
Around in the moonlight
With a cane and a top hat

If you could use a change of pace
And be excused from the rat race
Just take a look at what's on view
Lace 'em up, walk around
I guarantee you can't wear 'em down
You're gonna need a quality shoe

Now I wish you sunny skies
And happiness wherever you may go
But you got to realise
There'll be wind, there'll be rain
And occasional snow

You're gonna want to smile in them
If you're gonna walk a mile in them
There'll be times when you'll be blue
To laugh at rainy days and then
Make your getaways in them
You're gonna need a quality shoe

You got your toecaps reinforced with steel
Hard-wearing sole and heel
Make those tired feet feel like new
Take your pick, black or Brown
Great for the country or the man in town
You're gonna need a quality shoe

Done With Bonaparte, Nobody's Got the Gun, . . . don't get me started.

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PLEASE PLAY THIS ONE INSTEAD

geomoo's picture

that version ends early. I wish I had deleted before you commented, Mbel. Anyway, that is a funny comment, In a sad kind of way, so it should remain. Here's the whole song. What happens with that that one being cut off should be a crime. At the very least, go listen to the end on this version if you were playing that one:

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