1
Oh well the sun go down
Celebration in the town tonight
All day long
They been slaughtering upon the stone
Share out the meat
Yeah, you really like to eat
Come on woman, come follow me home
Well, the priest he cries
Virgin ascending to the skies tonight
All day long
I have passed my time alone
And when the church bell rung
I stayed out on the tower
In a dying sun
Now come on woman, come follow me home
Well I don't need no priest
But I love all of the people
Yes I share the feast
So I drink up my wine
Yes and the song in my bones
I know the way
I can see by the moonlight
Clear as the day
Now come on woman, come follow me home
Celebration in the town tonight
All day long
They been slaughtering upon the stone
Share out the meat
Yeah, you really like to eat
Come on woman, come follow me home
Well, the priest he cries
Virgin ascending to the skies tonight
All day long
I have passed my time alone
And when the church bell rung
I stayed out on the tower
In a dying sun
Now come on woman, come follow me home
Well I don't need no priest
But I love all of the people
Yes I share the feast
So I drink up my wine
Yes and the song in my bones
I know the way
I can see by the moonlight
Clear as the day
Now come on woman, come follow me home
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This song is about being in a small town in a Catholic country (probably Sapin, maybe Italy) on August 15th.
August 15th is the Feast of the Assumption, which celebrates the Assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven (as believed by Catholics and some other Christians). There is a minor error in the lyrics above (virgins instead of virgin) which changes the meaning of the song, by the way.
It's likely that the parish church in that town is named after Mary ("Church of Our Lady of ...") so this feast day would also be the Church's "patron day", resulting in a huge feast/festival that would last all day and involve most of the town.
I think Knopfler must ahve been there on that day, because the feeling of the song is so visceral. The line about the bells rinnging but staying in the tower was surely from his experience of wanting to see the sunset of the tower and so not running down when the bells exploded next to him.
I think he and was so deeply impressed with the sirit of the people ("but I love all of these people yes I share the Feast") that he felt it necessary to explain why he himself would not become Catholic ("I don't need no priest").