There was an actual jazz band that mark knopfler had witnessed playing in a dingy local pub in south london, near to where he was living at the time.
And there really were just a few lads playing pool in the corner. ignoring the band as it played on regardless, until finally announcing " Thank you for coming along we are ..The Sultans Of Swing !"
I suggest we track down that original band, get them back together. and have them record their own version of this classic song.. maybe mark could even guest on it with them !
THANK YOU!! I've come on to pretty much say exactly that. As a song MEANINGS website, I'd expected everyone to have written that but instead people are leaving comments such as "great song", "Amazin' solo" etc. The only thing missing from your meanings is that he had no intention of going into the pub but wanted to take shelter from the London rain... but that's not really relevant except it directly addresses the line "Coming in out of the rain they hear the jazz go down".
THANK YOU!! I've come on to pretty much say exactly that. As a song MEANINGS website, I'd expected everyone to have written that but instead people are leaving comments such as "great song", "Amazin' solo" etc. The only thing missing from your meanings is that he had no intention of going into the pub but wanted to take shelter from the London rain... but that's not really relevant except it directly addresses the line "Coming in out of the rain they hear the jazz go down".
BTW, (for everyone else who may have been offended) I'm not suggesting this isn't a great song or an amazing solo as I've just finished learning it on guitar but that's not the really the point of songmeanings.net
@TheMindField Hi, the pub was Oxford Arms and was on the corner of Crossfields estate Deptford. The estate was a ‘hard to let’ council estate and mostly occupied by young sharers, a lot of them having just left home or university and trying to find their way. The flats were rough, very basic small kitchen and a bathroom with just a bath no wash hand basin. No central heating and a fireplace in the front room. Yes it was dire, but it was very cheap when you shared the cheap rent between 3! This afforded you the joy to grab...
@TheMindField Hi, the pub was Oxford Arms and was on the corner of Crossfields estate Deptford. The estate was a ‘hard to let’ council estate and mostly occupied by young sharers, a lot of them having just left home or university and trying to find their way. The flats were rough, very basic small kitchen and a bathroom with just a bath no wash hand basin. No central heating and a fireplace in the front room. Yes it was dire, but it was very cheap when you shared the cheap rent between 3! This afforded you the joy to grab a pint just before closing time most nights just before 11pm. Anyway, on most weekday evenings you would find me and my mate w in the Oxford Arms playing pool and feeding the jukebox. Our favourite was Hotel California -Eagles. And yes we were almost always wearing brown bell bottom trousers cos that was considered smart at the time, we both had good jobs. We were rock and roll obsessed and my mate had just bought a sunburst telecaster guitar for about £75 which was a lot in 1977. Anyway as I remember it, in the Oxford arms which was a small pub, this group was playing and we thought they were awful, just from a different time from us, we just ignored them and played pool. It was raining hard and a guy came in on his own, wet and he was wearing an unusual hat, he started talking to us and I can’t remember exactly what we talked about but he definitely wasn’t a lad from south London. He didn’t hang about but we did have a reasonable chat before he left. I never made the connection until a year or so ago as I never really listened that hard to the song. It’s very possible that we were the drunk yobbos he referred to. Marks brother lived in Tanners Hill estate and the Oxford arms was about midway between the two, so it’s all possible. So that's my little story, not saying it’s anything to do with Sultans but it just possible.
My mate was one of the few who went to the Crossfields music festival and said Dire straits were excellent. Dire straits continued to live in Farrer House for years even when they were famous! Their 2 big white VW lorries would be parked outside most nights which I found amazing coz they must have been pulling in good money. Well we all moved on, none more so the Dire Straits who became world renowned and rightly so.
There was an actual jazz band that mark knopfler had witnessed playing in a dingy local pub in south london, near to where he was living at the time.
And there really were just a few lads playing pool in the corner. ignoring the band as it played on regardless, until finally announcing " Thank you for coming along we are ..The Sultans Of Swing !"
I suggest we track down that original band, get them back together. and have them record their own version of this classic song.. maybe mark could even guest on it with them !
THANK YOU!! I've come on to pretty much say exactly that. As a song MEANINGS website, I'd expected everyone to have written that but instead people are leaving comments such as "great song", "Amazin' solo" etc. The only thing missing from your meanings is that he had no intention of going into the pub but wanted to take shelter from the London rain... but that's not really relevant except it directly addresses the line "Coming in out of the rain they hear the jazz go down".
THANK YOU!! I've come on to pretty much say exactly that. As a song MEANINGS website, I'd expected everyone to have written that but instead people are leaving comments such as "great song", "Amazin' solo" etc. The only thing missing from your meanings is that he had no intention of going into the pub but wanted to take shelter from the London rain... but that's not really relevant except it directly addresses the line "Coming in out of the rain they hear the jazz go down".
BTW, (for everyone else who may have been offended) I'm not suggesting this isn't a great song or an amazing solo as I've just finished learning it on guitar but that's not the really the point of songmeanings.net
@TheMindField Hi, the pub was Oxford Arms and was on the corner of Crossfields estate Deptford. The estate was a ‘hard to let’ council estate and mostly occupied by young sharers, a lot of them having just left home or university and trying to find their way. The flats were rough, very basic small kitchen and a bathroom with just a bath no wash hand basin. No central heating and a fireplace in the front room. Yes it was dire, but it was very cheap when you shared the cheap rent between 3! This afforded you the joy to grab...
@TheMindField Hi, the pub was Oxford Arms and was on the corner of Crossfields estate Deptford. The estate was a ‘hard to let’ council estate and mostly occupied by young sharers, a lot of them having just left home or university and trying to find their way. The flats were rough, very basic small kitchen and a bathroom with just a bath no wash hand basin. No central heating and a fireplace in the front room. Yes it was dire, but it was very cheap when you shared the cheap rent between 3! This afforded you the joy to grab a pint just before closing time most nights just before 11pm. Anyway, on most weekday evenings you would find me and my mate w in the Oxford Arms playing pool and feeding the jukebox. Our favourite was Hotel California -Eagles. And yes we were almost always wearing brown bell bottom trousers cos that was considered smart at the time, we both had good jobs. We were rock and roll obsessed and my mate had just bought a sunburst telecaster guitar for about £75 which was a lot in 1977. Anyway as I remember it, in the Oxford arms which was a small pub, this group was playing and we thought they were awful, just from a different time from us, we just ignored them and played pool. It was raining hard and a guy came in on his own, wet and he was wearing an unusual hat, he started talking to us and I can’t remember exactly what we talked about but he definitely wasn’t a lad from south London. He didn’t hang about but we did have a reasonable chat before he left. I never made the connection until a year or so ago as I never really listened that hard to the song. It’s very possible that we were the drunk yobbos he referred to. Marks brother lived in Tanners Hill estate and the Oxford arms was about midway between the two, so it’s all possible. So that's my little story, not saying it’s anything to do with Sultans but it just possible. My mate was one of the few who went to the Crossfields music festival and said Dire straits were excellent. Dire straits continued to live in Farrer House for years even when they were famous! Their 2 big white VW lorries would be parked outside most nights which I found amazing coz they must have been pulling in good money. Well we all moved on, none more so the Dire Straits who became world renowned and rightly so.