By Jack Stephen
“Why Worry” by Dire Straits.
Mark Knopfler is one of those great guitar players who is also an incredible songwriter. I have always been a fan. He has many great songs and some great albums. Dire Strait’s first album, self-titled, has several songs that hit kind of under the radar, such as “Six Blade Knife” and the seminal “Sultans of Swing.” My favorite song of theirs is “Skateaway,” off the Making Movies album. There is a really cool video and story with this song. It involves a girl who moves to Los Angeles, trying to make it with a dream and a pair of roller skates. You can feel the heartbreak and hope.
Dire Strait’s monster hit “Money for Nothing” really personified the zeitgeist of my generation. “To get the chicks for free” felt like a good plan back in 1986 or so. Great video; I did some digging and found out that this was the first video MTV played in the United Kingdom. Of course, everyone thought they had the inside info knowing that Sting belted out the “I want my MTV” at the end; but that was no secret. It just made the song a bit cooler. I could relate to the marketing scheme. I didn’t have MTV and had to go to the neighbors to watch it. Watching “music videos” ended up being a huge influence as to how I began to appreciate music, because music shifted off the radio a bit; and then it was “What a cool video.”
“Money for Nothing” and “Why Worry” are both on the Brothers in Arms album. What an epic album this is! I am also a fan of the tracks “Your Latest Trick” and the title track “Brothers in Arms.” “Why Worry” is a pretty fantastic ballad with a nice long intro, probably so the bride and groom have time to make it to the dance floor for their wedding song. I love how it feels full of hope and has that deep lyric: “and you make sense of what I do.”
“Throwing It All Away” by Genesis.
Genesis is quite the group. I’ve gotten into them only within the last few years or so. They’re one of those band that I ignored but now can’t really figure out why? I don’t really know what happened between Phil Collins and Peter Gabriel.* Regardless, I’m a fan of Genesis in any iteration. I just really appreciate all the experimentation. When they crush, they really crush. Phil Collins leads the way on so many cool tracks, including: “Man in the Corner,” “No Reply at All,” and “ABCAB.” Phil Collins later went on to have one of the most successful solo careers of any artist, like, ever. He had so many awesome, funky tracks, such as “I Missed Again,” “I Don’t Care Anymore,” “Inside Out,” and “Don’t Lose My Number.” I love how Genesis was always willing to try so many interesting ideas, which ended up leading to some greatness, because they did have a lot of duds. “Throwing It All Away” is just a real sweet song, and a reminder that all the failed relationships I had led me to my most perfect love.
*[Peter Gabriel had one of the most epic romantic songs of my generation “In Your Eyes.” This is mostly because of the movie plug when John Cusack played the boombox loudly outside Ione Skye’s window in the film Say Anything… This was an interesting move for two reasons: 1) that was how difficult it was to try and get laid/meet women back in my generation, we simply had a lot of questionable ideas; 2) if someone were to duplicate this move today, that girl is calling the police.]
“Waiting for a Girl” by Foreigner.
Foreigner, what a great fucking 1980s rock band. They sang about chasing women and getting drunk in the bar. For example, listen to “Double Vision.” That was how it went in the 1980s, 90s, and maybe a bit in the early 2000s. How else are you going to meet someone to sleep with you? You’re going to have to get out of the house, and the ladies are going to be out at the bars. We were still in the jukebox generation.
I remember sitting in some bar somewhere in Dallas. I would be just chilling by myself, maybe waiting on a friend. There would be a Budweiser and shot of Jameson sitting in front of me. I was rocking a badass mustache. I lit a Winston light, put a coaster over the top of my beer and wandered over to the jukebox with a one-dollar bill, three selections coming up. I leaned on the jukebox. The stance was crucial to looking cool but not like a poser. It’s got to be fucking natural! I scrolled through slowly, got to find a good one. There’s only about 15 patrons in here right now, everyone is going to know these are my selections. Got to do it right, I felt confident. I took a drag off my cigarette like a movie star. I decided to go with Red Hot Chili Peppers up top, followed by some Smiths, and finished it off with “Waiting for a Girl” by Foreigner. I moseyed back to my bar stool. After I plopped down, the most beautiful bartender sauntered over and asked if I would like another shot, with a smile. I looked my future wife in the eyes and said “Your goddam right I do...and can I get your number?”
“First Gymnopedie” by Yusef Lateef.
A vignette: It’s a cold snowy Saturday evening. It’s been a cold snowy day, and the heavy flakes are still dropping like they would on a movie set, slowly and deliberately. We are draped with blankets, and we feel something stirring in the air. Three beautiful elk walk down the street. They’re looking at us almost with what feels like the same thought: What the fuck are you doing? They walk down the street slowly. We watch them go rest in our neighbors’ yard. With the amount of snow on the ground and falling in the air, I realized I forgot something about snow, how it absorbs so much sound. This whole experience has been…just…so…quiet.
