I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Some people get a cheap laugh breaking up the speed limit
Scaring the pedestrians for a minute
Crossing up progress driving on the grass
Leaving just enough room to pass
Sunday driver never took a test
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Yes it's no use saying that you don't know nothing
It's still gonna get you if you don't do something
Sitting on a fence that's a dangerous course
Oh, you could even catch a bullet from the peace-keeping force
Even the hero gets a bullet in the chest
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Mother Mary your children are slaughtered
Some of you mothers ought to lock up your daughters
Who's protecting the innocents
Heap big trouble in the land of plenty
Tell me how we're gonna do what's best
You guess once upon a time in the west
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
(Once upon) once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Scaring the pedestrians for a minute
Crossing up progress driving on the grass
Leaving just enough room to pass
Sunday driver never took a test
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Yes it's no use saying that you don't know nothing
It's still gonna get you if you don't do something
Sitting on a fence that's a dangerous course
Oh, you could even catch a bullet from the peace-keeping force
Even the hero gets a bullet in the chest
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Mother Mary your children are slaughtered
Some of you mothers ought to lock up your daughters
Who's protecting the innocents
Heap big trouble in the land of plenty
Tell me how we're gonna do what's best
You guess once upon a time in the west
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
Oh yeah, once upon a time in the west
(Once upon) once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
Once upon a time in the west
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Today some people think there hot shots because they break a traffic law.
Contrast that to the real wild west. Back then, you come across an outlaw, in the middle of nowhere, you have nothing but your own weapons, and fighting skills, to protect yourself. Bad guys knew they had little chance of being caught.
Much of the wild west was literally lawless. Think you're a bad ass because you break the speed limit? Imagine living back then.
i dont think its about the wild west as such but possibly uses the wild west as a metaphor for londons west end. there are ample clues in the song telling us that hes talking about modren life; sunday driver, driving test, driving on the grass. see also the song wild west end from same album
the alchemy version (13 mn) is unbelievable as for the meaning, rodan may be right.. but usually knopfler's lyrics are more complex, deeper than that.. so i dnt rly know..
it might also be a critique (or a description of Knopfler's idea) of the western world, mostly referring to the USA...
I think the song is about the triumph of "order" over the untamed and wild. I believe it's a theme that encompasses both the "Old West" of North America to the modern Western nations trying to civilize the rest of the world with our "peacekeeping forces".
The first verse seems to describe a renegade, "Crossing up the progress". Just someone who is causing problems for society.
The second verse seems to describe "The Man" talking to this renegade and explaining the reality of his situation. "no use saying that you don't know nothing It's still gonna get you if you don't do something" Shape up. Get in line. You can't fight the progress of law/order/civilization.
*Continuing the second verse seems to describe how the West (US and Nato) acts as a force for peace but with a very heavy hand. "Sitting on a fence that's a dangerous course Oh, you could even catch a bullet from the peace-keeping force."
Like the idea of bringing democracy to the 3rd world. Think of GWBush saying "You're either with us or against us". (I know this song is older than that...but it's a theme). "
Very often it seems like Knopfler writes in chronological order when it comes to the most straight forward parts of his songs.
@olemanwinter, EDIT: I meant to write "REVERSE chronological order"
Like any song, I think it can mean and/or have meaning for whatever the listener interprets. If you live in the Wild West, the West End, the West side of any country or region, that can be taken personally and adapted to the individual's own experience. Probably it does have meaning for Knopfler but even that is from his own personal life experience, which likely has no relevance to any other person.
this is just about life in the Wild West, where even the hero can be killed, where you have to careful for some yahoo who's driving their wagon or horses carelessly like a sunday driver, where its a dangerous, but glamourous life. the Sunday driver necer took a test, meaning he never had to pass a driver's ed class to drive his horse or wagon. even the hero gets a bullet in the chest, meaning even he can be killed, no one's invincable, its all just chaos. Mother Mary's children have been killed, and there's heap big trouble in the land of plenty, meaning that its a plentiful, opportunitous land, but its also full of danger. an overall great song, about the perils and highlights of living in the Wild West.
well, the song Wild West End was from their first album, Dire Straits, this song is from Communique. and yes, they use the term Sunday Driver and Driver's test, but i think they're using those as metaphores for the original Wild West. i take this from the fact that the song title is Once Upon a Time in the West. the song about the Wild West End, is called the Wld West End, i'm thinking the song with Wild West (not followed by End, and even named after a popular Western movie) would actually be about the Wild West.
"Once upon a time in the west" - philosophically speaking, the world is divided into east and west. He's not talking about the wild west (why would he be?), he's talking about America, Europe, etc... The West (as opposed to The East - Asia, etc..).<br /> <br /> For instance, "Oh, you could even catch a bullet from the peace-keeping force". Likewise; <br /> <br /> "Tell me how we're gonna do what's best<br /> You guess, once upon a time in the west"<br /> <br /> Lamenting the failure of logic in Western thought to establish right and wrong as objective norms. Which country should we invade next?
I think it has something to do with the sergio leone movie (C'era una volta il West (1968)), because it they both deal with the ideas people have of the west. They both show us where complete freedom brings us, it's going to be a mess, not a paradise.
The title "Once Upon a Time in the West" is just a homage to the film. It's about London's West End in the late 70s, using the American "Wild West" as an allegory.