Dire Straits - Private Investigations (1982) *AMAZING* DayOne Reacts 

Yes it is!!

Agree!

Agreed! I think with RU-vid and reactions he may be getting his due. Phenomenal. A true artist! This is one of my favorite DS songs! The guitar work and experimental nature is so cool!

It's a Marimba, not a xylophone

There's nothing in the lyrics to suggest it's someone who suspects his lover of cheating. It's simply the story of a jaded private eye. It has a very film noir atmosphere and the playout evokes the idea of the PI rooting around where he shouldn't be and nearly getting caught, with the bass acting as his heartbeat.

@@jjc5407 I think there is more than one interpretation of the Lyrics

@@StevenQ74 Hey thanks Steve, I will look that one up, it has a similar sound to a xylophone, maybe softer

@@COLINWARD-v3y you can ascribe whatever you like to the lyrics, but there's literally nothing to imply it's anything to do with the narrator investigating infidelity, nothing whatsoever. The lyrics are really clear as to what it's about. The narrator's getting paid for a start, so he's clearly investigating for someone else.

Agree whole heartedly.

I think you could say that about a lot of live songs, not all, but you get the atmosphere added.

True Mark doesn't have the best voice ,although it comes across better on some songs. It doesn't matter though because of the quality of the songs and playing, and if you listen to the lyrics of Brothers in arms song, they are anything but banal.

@@COLINWARD-v3y Thanks for your equanimous rep;y. I definitely rank Mark as a composer and I'll concede 'banal' is too harsh a word considering rhe vast ;lyrical wastelamd that is pop music in general. I always felt there was a mutual admiration between Mark and Bob Dylan where the former wished he could create lyrics like the latter,and conversely Bob wished he could sound and play like Mark, Cheers.

Wow, I never thought I'd hear the phrase "lyrical banality" and "Knopfler" in the same sentence! He's a songwriting genius. Just read his lyrics if you don't want to make the effort to listen to them. Many are sheer poetry. He also writes about a vast range of subjects. He has a phenomenal ability to condense complex stories about people, places and events down into a handful of verses. You also don't need music videos for his tracks; just close your eyes and listen and pictures will form in your mind. There is certainly a mutual admiration between Mark and Bob. They've been friends for years. Mark's played on Bob's albums and produced Infidels for him and they toured together as recently as 2012. For me though Mark's songwriting is superior. He doesn't write songs, he crafts them. His body of work is absolutely extraordinary.

@@jjc5407 Your comprehensive, articulate and well-informed response deserves a reply in kind. I've already acknowledged my original comment was unduly harsh. I guess it comes down to a frank exchange of opinions, one of the positive aspects of a platform like this. Neither of us, nor anyone else, would dispute Mark's virtuosity as a guitarist (imo top 10 of the entire rock era, though it's pointless to try and rank them as so many do) nor dispute his genius as a composer (consider the scores for 'Local Hero' and 'The Princess Bride', let alone his own albums with Dire Straits). As for his mostly conversational (as opposed to melodic) vocal stylings, he always struck me as successfully achieving the kind of sound Dylan only wished he could pull off. Fine songwriter, sure, but as a lyricist, sorry but I regard him as good but not great. I cut my teeth on the lyrics of not only 60s Dylan, Paul Simon and others, but that heyday of the singer-songwriter of the early 70s that gave us the likes ofJames Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Jackson Browne, Janis Ian and Neil Young, to name a few. You mentioned 'sheer poetry'. In my six decades or so of enthusiastic listening only one album fully lives up to that description: Canadian guitarist-singer-songwiter Bruce Cockburn's 1976 'In the Falling Dark'. The style may be somewhat dated (acoustic folk)but the words and the masterclass guitar dazzle, For mine, it remains unsurpassed to this day. Hope you have a chance to check it out some time. If you managed to read this far, thanks for your interest and have a good whatever. I don't get many likes Wonder why lol. .

@@lifelover515 thanks for the recommendation. In turn I recommend reading through Mark's lyrics. His sometimes mumbled vocals coupled with his virtuoso guitar playing can distract from just how brilliant they are. There are so many that paint such vivid pictures.

What! There is vocals? Lol