MARK KNOPFLER has written some great lyrics. On the album, Best of Dire Straits, there are two songs that appear to reflect the weariness of someone who does private investigations and finds only betrayal and lies. He also authored PRIVATE DANCER made famous by Tina Turner. It too is a very sad song. I don’t know what makes Knopfler “tick” but he has written several great songs with moral themes of some depth. Then I read this today.
Infidels is Bob Dylan's best album since the searing Blood on the Tracks nine years ago, a stunning recovery of the lyric and melodic powers that seemed to have all but deserted him. Under the aegis of Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler, Dylan has produced eight vigorous songs that teem with self-effacing introspection and wit, free of the cant that's weighted down his recent efforts. The songs on Infidels touch on religion and politics but are rooted in an ineffably deep sadness: the sadness of broken hearts and broken dreams, the sadness of middle age, the sadness that has been the wellspring of great rock & roll from Robert Johnson to "Every Breath You Take." Flaming through that sadness is the sort of hell-hound-on-my-trail passion that you'd have to reach back ten years to find in Dylan's recorded work.
“broken hearts,” “broken dreams,” “hell-hound-on-my-trail.” Even in secular music, all the great lyrics have at their root a moral message. More often then not they also recognize the on-coming train of deterioration and loss of self. I’ve never been a Dylan fan but I love this review and if it accurately reflects the album, I just may purchase it.
For the full review HERE
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