Dire Straits – Lady Writer

• +1
  General Comment:Guru, totally agree. I always sensed some sadness in the line "I recall my fall from grace". To me it sounds like it was a heavily one sided relationship, and seeing the lady on TV is bringing back all those memories. He's still not over her. But she obviously is, "only talked to me when she felt like it". The Lady Writer on the TV seems just like her, the same "type".

  Flag jAce87on October 14, 2010   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• +1
  General Comment:This song is about a time Mark Knofler saw a woman on television that reminded him of a former girlfriend. He is reminisciming about the look and auru his former girlfriend gave off, that is so similar to that of the Lady on the T.V. He is fully appreciating his former girlfriend, as she had all the intelligence and 'command' of this well-educated writer, yet she never 'read a book' and could 'hardly write her name'. His former girlfriend was a total package, with 'all the brains and all the beauty', and acknoledged she did not have to put in as much effort into the relationship as he did, as she only 'talked to me when she felt like it'. This further explifies the recurring line of 'I recall my fall from grace', as she was the one with the control and composure, like that of the lady writer he's watching on television.

  Flag MusicGuruNo1on May 31, 2010   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:Some rather harsh comments above but I do agree it is derivative of the classic "Sultans Of Swing" but I still like it.

  Flag chrisb1on March 19, 2010   Link

  • 1 Reply Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
    0

    Seeing as you guys are comparing it to Sultans of Swing, I must say that I actually like this song better. We all have our favorites ;)

    Flag poerk55on April 09, 2010  
• 0
  General Comment:this song is about a tv journalist that interveiwed them and wrote a song about her

  Flag bradlaurenton January 15, 2008   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:It's all about the feminist writer and academic Marina Warner, and her book about the Virgin Mary, entitled "Alone Of All Her Sex". All the clues are there in the lyrics.

  Flag mick1144on May 16, 2007   Link

  • 1 Reply Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
    0

    Absolutely correct. I am almost certain that I saw the same interview with Marina Warner on a TV culture programme that inspired the song. She was an extremely attractive and engaging woman (hey, she still is) and I remember a friend and I being very taken with her. It was quite a surprise when the song came out and we found it expressed our thoughts to a great extent.

    Flag Padgeron November 25, 2012  
• 0
  General Comment:This is one of their worst songs. JessLovesApril is right, this song does song like the depressed, under-achieving younger brother of "Sultans of Swing."
  
  The second album was kind of weak anyways. It seemed like it was just a rehash of the debut album, even the hit single off of it ("Lady Writer") sounded like a second-rate "Sultans of Swing" clone.

  Flag YourGoldTeethon May 09, 2007   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:t.v woman

  Flag waddingtonphilipon April 05, 2007   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:Listening to it again for the first time in forever, I'm getting that the narrator wishes his girlfriend was as beautiful and intelligent as the woman he's watching on television.
  
  Not one of my favorite DS songs - even though it was the big hit from Communique, I don't find it anywhere near the best song on the album, and the guitar bit at the end sounds like the underachieving little brother of the guitar bit at the end of Sultans of Swing. But it's an okay song, I guess.

  Flag jesslovesaprilon March 13, 2007   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.
• 0
  General Comment:It sounds like someone who he saw on TV reminded him of a woman he knows.

  Flag stoolhardyon June 09, 2005   Link

  • No Replies Log in to reply
    
      There was an error.

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!