Dire Straits- Tunnel of Love REACTION & REVIEW

Song Link: • Dire Straits - Tunnel ...
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[@styot]

When Mark says "Check it out..." you know a great solo is coming.

[@AriadneJC]

I can listen to Knopfler's voice plus guitar playing all day long and never tire of it. This is superb.

[@tullfan2560]

Knopfler doesn't ever waste a note. Another masterpiece by Dire Straits and a huge radio hit here in Australia. The piano near the end of the song reminds me of SOS by ABBA.

[@gernblanston5697]

There has never been a more apt album title than Making Movies. Every song is its own moviescape. Absolutely brilliant!

[@sphericalharmony1603]

This album brings back so many memories. Tunnel of Love was a staple of their live shows, with extended solos.

[@normankennith7919]

'tunnel of love' for me is the greatest rock/pop song ever written!!

[@grind18]

To me - a person who wasn't born at that time it brings nostalgia about the times I was'nt born in :)

[@normankennith7919]

i was 33 when dire straits arrived on the scene & i do know what you mean!!!@@grind18

[@jxchamb]

So much power in his voice. The passion in Mark's voice and his guitar on every track makes this one of my favorite records.

[@anniebananie3421]

We all know that Dire Straits musicianship is peerless, but to me the best part of Dire Straits is the poetry. How can someone capture a feeling, paint an atmosphere, provoke a memory so thoroughly? With this song (as well as many other Dire Straits' songs), I feel a thump in my gut, that pain from nostalgia that makes me smile tenderly in memoria. "She took off her silver locket, she said, 'remember me by this', she put her hand in my pocket, I got a keepsake, and a kiss."

[@michaellaporte4951]

Knopfler and Springsteen are some of the best connoisseurs of nostalgia we have.

[@tullfan2560]

"When you point your finger cos your plan fell through, there'll be three more fingers pointing back at you" - Solid Rock. One of the most memorable lyrics ever, IMO.

[@dickmeijer5363]

Often overlooked, but the keyboard player in this band is amazing. Check out the live performances.

[@pleasantvalleypickerca7681]

"Good Song"??? Justin it's a masterpiece!!! I love it as an opening track rocker, but when they drop it down to the bare bones, stripped back, mellow segment near the end, it makes the song. There is so much emotion and beauty there that it gets me emotionaly every time.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

Very tasty song. Memories of amusement parks - Cullercoats and Whitley Bay are resorts not far from where Mark Knopfler grew up in northeast England, and Whitley Bay's former amusement park was called the Spanish City. Rockaway, Steeplechase, and Palisades refer to former amusement parks in New York. "Big wheel keep on turning" is a nod to "Proud Mary" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. One of DS's top three albums (along with the debut and Love Over Gold) and probably the most consistently good.

[@linusfotograf]

Thanks for doing this one Justin. It’s such a romantic and melancholic song

[@sean---the-other-one]

Everyone talks about Mark’s guitar work (and rightly so) but in all that talk the one guy who never seems to get props is Pick Withers on drums. He’s a superb player for making the most from the snare, hi-hat, and kick, and he only uses toms or cymbals for effect, never as a crutch. Terry Williams is probably their most famous drummer since Pick left after Love Over Gold and Terry was brought in for the Alchemy tour so you get to see Terry playing live, plus he was the drummer in the Brothers In Arms videos. But Terry didn’t cut it for the recording of Brothers In Arms so he was replaced for much of it by journeymen players like Omar Hakim who did Money For Nothing (Terry contributed the crescendo drums at the start, but apparently couldn’t get the ‘groove’ right for the main part of the song - astounding since I think the song is almost devoid of groove even with Omar drumming (and I love Omar’s drumming usually)). So anyhow, Pick did great work all through the first four albums, especially stuff like here in Tunnel Of Love in the middle breakdown), but few people focus on him since he was in Mark’s shadow.

[@dexstewart2450]

I think you could apply that to the whole band re: props. MK is so good it kind of overshadows how good the rest of the lads really are.

[@Marlinspike1964]

I agree completely. There was a feel and a swing to Pick’s drumming that just wasn’t there after he left. To me the band wasn’t ever as good again.

[@delorangeade]

I forgot to mention the drumming. It really stands out on this track. Not that I was ever much of a Dire Straits fan, but Terry Williams always seemed too busy. Even so the way Knopfler treated him was fairly brutal. I remember Mark being asked, I think by Tommy Vance, how he would go about replacing a drummer as important to the band as Pick, and Mark was very dismissive, saying words to the effect of: "He's just a drummer." I didn't think that was very fair either.

[@sean---the-other-one]

@@delorangeade Unfortunately I think Dire Straits was fuelled by a benign ruthlessness. Mark and David had a big falling out over the band, and I’m sure that the only reason John stayed (was allowed to stay) throughout the band’s full career was because he totally stayed out of Mark’s way sonically. It seems an attitude that revolves around the band, too. I remember when Alan Clark couldn’t persuade Mark to continue Dire Straits, he put together The Dire Straits Shoe or some such thing. But when he put the band together for it he opted against including John on bass even though John would have done it. When interviewed about it I remember reading Alan said something like “I could have gotten John but we wanted to have fun with this.” - ouch! I don’t remember the exact words but it was very much like that and it made me drop my estimation of Alan by several notches. He could have made up any number of reasons, but to imply that either John wasn’t musically up to it or he was a drag (or both) was totally uncool. Of course John would have been likely to read the interview or get word of it. Just mean. Especially since I’m pretty sure that Alan wasn’t always the player of the keys parts that we might have thought he was.

[@delorangeade]

@@sean---the-other-one I didn't follow what happened with Dire Straits beyond Love Over Gold, but it's clear the band was always about Mark's vision, and even though he didn't nesessarily have a public reputation as a ruthless operator, be could obviously be hard-headed when it came to what he wanted. And I had my doubts as to whether some of Allan's key parts were in fact Roy Bittan (uncredited).

[@silgen]

My favourite Dire Straits track. Not only is it a great song, there is also the feelings of nostalgia it evokes. Like Mark Knopfler I grew up near the north east coast of England and spent many a happy childhood summer's day walking the beaches between "Cullercoats and Whitley Bay" and in the Spanish City fairground and amusement park. Sadly, no nice young lady ever gave me a silver locket though...

[@jasonwebb71]

I used to listen to this a lot whilst working on Tyneside about 15 years ago (I'm from down south). We were staying in a hotel in Whitley Bay, but often used to get off the Metro at Tynemouth and literally walk from Cullercoats to Whitley Bay. It was also during the period that The Spanish City was being renovated.

[@silgen]

@@jasonwebb71 Lovely walk, isn't it? Especially on a sunny summer day. During winter with a gale blowing in off the North Sea and the waves crashing against the sea wall it's rather more "invigorating"...

[@peteroneill3993]

I had forgotten how good this album is !!

[@ursgeiser6570]

For years I only heard fantastic live versions including Live Alchemy, good to remind again how the original sounds. I was once interested in what you have to say about Private Investigation, totally different song and amazingly in UK nr.2 from the amazing album Love Over Gold.👍

[@sphericalharmony1603]

Justin has already listened to all of Love Over Gold. You should be able to find his reactions by doing a KZbin search.

[@stephenpesta1550]

Check out a recent video interview Mark Knopfler did with Brian Johnson of AC/DC about the return to Rockaway and the “Spanish City”. Both cool and heartwarming, on clear display is just how iconic this song has become.

[@jasonwebb71]

I love that video. They talk about seeing Lindisfarne at the Rex Hotel.

[@stephenpesta1550]

@@jasonwebb71 I just saw it a week ago and thought it was terrific! I love the song but never had any reference points or knew it was autobiographical. Many beautiful moments in that video.

[@jjc5407]

The best part is where Brian shows Mark the lyrics from this song written in the paving outside the redeveloped Spanish City: "Girl it looks so pretty to me, like it always did. Like the Spanish City to me, when we were kids."

[@stephenpesta1550]

@@jjc5407 yes! Their entire exchange was just so genuine and gleeful.

[@dexstewart2450]

A band that lets the excellence of their music do all the talking

[@MrCREWCRUSHIN95]

MAKING MOVIES and LOVE OVER GOLD are Dire Strait's masterpieces.

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

Don't overlook their debut. Some very tasty songs, and the opener (Down to the Waterline) was a statement of intent as to where they were going.

[@keithjones7390]

Every studio album was worth mentioning, each one has top class songs from this great band.

[@sean---the-other-one]

Yeah, this was a strong 3rd album. They’d suffered the all too common 2nd album syndrome where promotion, touring, and a heap of pressure to follow up the first hits with more material ends up with a bunch of songs that sound like they’re leftovers from the 1st album. Making Movies really showed Mark bringing his ideas together and was an important stepping stone the his Magnum Opus - Love Over Gold. Brothers In Arms was a mammoth success, but Love Over Gold was the far superior album in my mind. Telegraph Road is my number 1 song for putting on a pair of great headphones, closing my eyes, and just wallowing in the epicness of the music and lyrics.

[@LoganAlbright73]

Yeah, Love Over Gold is the best. Making Movies is almost there, but has a couple of weak spots on the second side.

[@sean---the-other-one]

@@LoganAlbright73 Yep. Les Boys could’ve just been a B-Side to a single, and Hand In Hand is shmaltzy. The rest of the songs are good to great.

[@jjc5407]

Communique is still a fine album packed with quality songs. It's a shame it doesn't get more attention.

[@sean---the-other-one]

@@jjc5407 Single-Handed Sailor is one of my top ten DS songs, and there’s definitely some other pretty good songs on Communique. It’s just lacking any real development as a band from the debut. By contrast, Making Movies is a leap forward, and Love Over Gold is the zenith.

[@jjc5407]

@@sean---the-other-one I love Single-Handed Sailor too. It's my favourite from that album. Lyrically brilliant (although it helps if you know something about the docklands in London and ships that were moored there in the dry docks!), musically evocative and with a wonderful melody.

[@craigdawson7564]

The opening "wurtzler organ" piece is taken rogers and hammersteins classic musical "Carousel"....in keeping with fairground theme of the song.

[@jorgecarneiro819]

Dire straits was my first big stadium concert - Portugal ... In beginning 90s. I remember in this time liked more DS if PFloyd... Im young.. I always loved this song. And I hope DS have a place in my❤... So good listen... Cool

[@jhamptonjr]

Oh yes! This is probably my favorite dire straits song. Love this album when it came out. Peace!

[@cujocujo4942]

Solid track! His arrangements are perfect.

[@jankowalski8577]

Song from my favorite album

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

I remember everything about hearing this album aged 18. Perfection.

[@edwardmeradith2419]

I beg to differ about the ending: I LOVE Roy’s arpeggios SO much - but from the quiet breakdown, all the way out - A flawless build by the whole band - and Roy is the cherry on top, “alway leave them wanting more”

[@2war2bray]

Seeing Dire Straits live in 1985 at the Greek Theatre in LA was beyond great...

[@grind18]

Some people say that people like old music because it brings memories of their childhood or youth and makes them feel nostaligic about it but that's not quite true - people like old music because it makes them feel nostalgic about the times they haven't had a chance to be born in. That's what Dire Straits makes me feel about...

[@1000whispering]

Spanish City in Whitley Bay. Near to where I live. Funny to hear the references in an internationally renowned song.

[@manhattenman6075]

Perfect song and so much better live, the live version from Alchemy 1983, its a great jam!

[@dougreed2257]

Whitley bay and Cullercoats are on the north east coast of England, places Mark visited as a child and youth, the Spanish city was a fun fair situated in Whitley bay, where people of my generation(63 years old) older and a bit younger frequented for a great day out during childhood, Mark speaks for all of us who remember this in this glorious 'Geordie' anthem👌😊👍

[@jasonbrandt5504]

Their best album. Amazing track.

[@michaelbaucom4019]

Live versions are even better(normal for Dire Straits), extended intro, extended outro, sax sometimes added...the live version from " Alchemy " is best, but, again, many versions that are just about as good(many folks like a version done in Sydney, Australia on the Brothers In Arms tour) Lyrically, one of MK's best stories

[@styot]

Love this one, such a good song, masterpiece!

[@davepb5798]

One of my favourite albums, ever.

[@sarahzentexas]

I’ve got my headphones and I’m excited! My favorite DS song by a mile. ❤

[@Mark-lv6mu]

Knopfler going back to his roots on this one, The Spanish City, an amusement park at Whitley Bay just north of Newcastle, England, which after years of dereliction is finally having new life breathed into it again

[@stephenpesta1550]

I take it that you saw the Brian Johnson interview too? It was terrific!

[@Mark-lv6mu]

@@stephenpesta1550yeah saw that, enjoyed it

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

And the Council had the words about the Spanish City looking pretty engraved on the stairs. Mark didn't know about this until Brian Johnson showed him and he was surprised and delighted.

[@stlmopoet]

Great review. Great song. I'm back home. Feeling ok. Moving slow

[@KyleS3m3noff]

Not gonna lie - you put a gun to my head and it's probably gonna be the first thing I say as my all-time #1 fave Straits song. I fell in love with Mark's vivid storytelling as a kid listening to Dad's album, but this song in particular holds a great deal of nostalgia for me as well for a different reason. For a couple of years in the late 90s, I was living in Auckland and hated damn near every minute of it, so every few weekends as soon as 5pm hit and work wrapped up on Friday I'd jump in the car and drive 4 hours back to my hometown just to spend a day and a half in familiar surrounds with friendly faces before leaving it as late as possible on Sunday afternoon to head back and start a new working week on Monday morning. This song was played on every single trip there and back, so the whole length of the song to me has it's own story in my mind of that long drive and the feeling of getting closer and closer to home... that was 25 years ago now and that feeling has never left me whenever I listen to this song.

[@sean---the-other-one]

Rockaway, Cullercoats, and Whitley Bay were apparently carnival spots, sort of like Coney Island as near as I can tell (I’m not from the UK nor the USA, so I can only go by context).

[@thomasbarr5940]

Spanish city in the song was an amusement park in Whitley Bay

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

Cullercoats was a nearby village which shared a railway station with Whitley Bay. When you travelled there by train, the station master would always shout 'Cullercoats and Whitley Bay!' It was the end of the line, because you'd reached the coast. I believe Rockaway was a funfair in America, but I always thought it meant to rock away from Whitley Bay, because he was leaving to form a rock band .

[@georgesheffield1580]

All of Dier straights songs are poetic stories Mark is telling to his music .

[@sseltrek1a2b]

played this album to death when it first came out...great writing, and amazing guitar playing...

[@chrisbanks5925]

Watch any live version of this for some superb extended guitar work from Mark Knopfler. I used to go to the Spanish City at Whitley Bay when I was a kid . . . it's near Newcastle in Northern England.

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

Yes, I used to go to the Spanish City at Whitley Bay with my Geordie cousins. I 'm from Yorkshire myself. It would have been about the same time as Mark. He's 2 years older than me. I believe he did work on the Waltzer one summer. The Waltzer boys were the coolest guys in the funfair. He certainly paints a vivid picture of Life in a funfair.

[@jhamptonjr]

Hey man hope you're having a good morning! Actually I'd like to revise my previous comment. My absolute favorite track is down to the water line! Got to play that one. Hopefully! Peace!

[@PjRjHj]

Probably my favourite Guitar Solo of all time

[@delorangeade]

You could just end your Mark Knopfler journey right here because it won't get any better. This is perfect.

[@tammccoy4258]

I love this track a lot, but it sounds like for Justin it is just OK. What makes it special for me is the aspect Justin just seems to brush over: the emotions conveyed by the lyrics. On the surface a wistful song of reminiscence about the magic and romance of fairgrounds and fairground lifestyle, for me it also speaks both of the strong magnetic pull of 'the bright lights of life' and of Mark's sadness at the parting of ways with his brother that happened in the making of this album. Oh well.

[@rosmeeker1964]

Love.

[@PJprog]

The ' Live ' Alchemy version is absolutely essential listening. Back in the 80s I always took this with me to audition Hi-fi equipment. Gawd , showing my age I think. What a time !! 😍

[@georgesheffield1580]

About the amusement park near where Mark grew up in northern Britain

[@georgesheffield1580]

Spanish city is the park .

[@johncagnettajr344]

Best Rock album of the 80s

[@michaelfrank2266]

Talented musicians. I was always left wishing the lead singer had a wider singing range or the band had a flexibility of others who could step in lead.

[@rxlxviii]

The live performance of this song from Wembley is twice as long and has a great expanded outro.

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

He's working at a fairground.

[@sicko_the_ew]

I've had this album on repeat for too long at times of my life for me to be likely to have any new feelings about it (except that I could still put it on repeat, if that qualifies in some way as new). One thing I love about Mark Knopfler is that he didn't let having what I'd call a "non-standard voice" make him decide he had "no voice"/ etc. - the various negatives one could come up with, and instead turned what he had into an ecclectically defined Great voice. Sad world that kills off singing. And I think he even gave Ian Anderson the courage to make some more records he might've not made on account of "his voice having gone" after the cigarettes had given him a bit more "vocal fry" than he wanted. If you ever get round to some of the later Jethro Tull songs, I'd be interested in your impressions of whether he now sounds like Mark Knopfler. (While it's good to value "great voices" - whatever that might mean in any universal/ possibly even objective sense - it's a really destructive thing to illogically conclude that whatever isn't your own favourite kind of "great" is "horrible" - as long as it's authentic and expressive? There's room in the world for Luciano Pavarotti as well as the mechanic who makes that funny little whistling music of his while he's fixing a car. (My dad used to have his own kind of "whistle music", come to think of it. Remembering where that particular idea comes from.) I'd give you a link to something Tim Smith, but I might've overdone that by now. How about a link to a song with a story to it by *Guided by Voices* called *Don't Blow Your Dream Job* ? (It's brand new. It's sung with all-heart by a post-prime Bob Pollard, and I won't hear that it's anything but lovely - especially vocally.) Yeah, that seems a fair compromise to me. Here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anbWm3SXeJqphNU Maybe I should find a link to a nice late-era Jethro Tull song instead? But why not both? Why not just say, Ya gotta say Yes to another Excess ..

[@sicko_the_ew]

*Valley* with aspects of this in dire straits of an kind I enjoy hearing. I don't know how many views it would get, but it would make for a good reaction video IMHO. Maybe when a slot becomes available in 2028? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXanf5eFedOIoNk

[@nathanhull8302]

Top 3 dire straits songs

[@markflint2629]

Live version

[@brianwade9693]

The Spanish city is a amusement park at whitby?

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

Whitley Bay a few miles east of Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, North East England. Whitby is also on the East Coast, but further south, in East Yorkshire. I have been to both places .

[@JamesHowe]

Really like this song, but I prefer the version on the Alchemy album. I think the live performance just adds a bit of something extra.

[@rogerwitte]

I think this must be a real memory (or possibly several) - the geography is the North East Coast of England near (just South of) Newcastle and Sunderland.

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

No, north of Sunderland and Whitley Bay is just a few miles along the River Tyne from Newcastle.

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

Whitley Bay is a few miles east along the River Tyne.

[@normankennith7919]

take a listen to the live version from the 'alchemy' album!!1

[@HippoYnYGlaw]

this song improves with time, both short term during the song itself , and long term after a few teenage years of being forced to listen to it with friends. No way is it a single! It's secret and initial Achilles Heel? Mark Knopfler's trademark guitar & vocals which lull us into thinkin There Ain't Nuttin New Here. But it's ABSOLUTELY Beautiful and I for one am not ashamed to say it. Even though I turned on them as being representative of the Yuppy CD generation and rebelled against them in overkill City - similarly Phil Collins after But Seriously or was it Both Sides ? I dunno, I'd given up on him for the same reasons..... Today , I went to the Charity shop and bought several CDs - too many in fact- at bargain prices. Caravan, Tull, Jefferson Airplane, BlindFaith, Love, and yes Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris ' "All the Roadrunning", which I've just started playing as I type. Banjo, piano and yes that guitar and not too lazy drawl. Plus Emmylou. It 's decidedly nostalgic and although not quite The Lilac Time, a slight Melancholic fix. Like the Beautiful Tunnel Of Love in fact. Local Hero Soundtrack would be a Beautiful Album Saturday Play - just to hear the Beautiful Gerry Rafferty vocal on The Way It Always Starts. One of my faves of all time. In summary then , we should always Give Marky K a Chance.

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

No way did they represent yuppies. Mark was always a down to earth Geordie, greatly loved in the North East and when someone told him that Princess Diana was a big fan, he just said 'Lots of different people like us. '

[@HippoYnYGlaw]

@@AnneDowson-vp8lg not them as individuals, only the booming success of Bros in Arms and the move to digital cds in the market place. Mark comes across as a genuinely humble chap.:-)

[@mightyV444]

How 'bout sum more Oysterhead? 😁

[@keithjones7390]

So many great songs, except Les Boys! 😢

[@silgen]

It may not be great but it is fun.

[@keithjones7390]

​@@silgenno, it's skip! 😅

[@jamespaivapaiva4460]

Not touching the topic of Tunnel of Love, with my 10" pole! Otherwise I'll be in Dire Straits! 'Pologies for the poor,pornographic,pun, but sometimes The Tunnel of Love does not flow into the fun-house! 😆.✌&💘.

[@dougreed2257]

Good song🙄🤔, that's like sayin' bridgette bardot was ' nice' lookin'😂

[@bobholtzmann]

I like the gritty New York setting of this song - it mentions the Palisades and Rockaway Beach. Bruce Springsteen also used NYC and east NJ boardwalk along the beach settings in his songs.

[@silgen]

It's set in the north east of England, we have coasts here as well, you know.

[@bobholtzmann]

@@silgen I see Spanish City is in UK, but it also mentions Rockaway, which is in NY.

[@ArtofFreeSpeech]

And Steeplechase, which was a mainstay ride of Coney Island.

[@silgen]

@@bobholtzmann Yes, I'm familiar with the Ramones' song. But it's in the lyrics as "rock away", not Rockaway. Here's a tour of the area I'm talking about, showing Cullercoats, Whitley Bay and the Spanish City: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGqvaKGbl5aHadE Mark Knopfler grew up in Blyth, a town just a few miles up the coast from here.

[@ArtofFreeSpeech]

@@silgen Yes, but do you have Rockaway, Coney Island, and the Palisades all within a 20 mile radius? He mentions looking in all 3 (2 of Coney Island's most famous rides are Steeplechase and the Carousel). Maybe you do for all I know, but if he was referencing somewhere other than a certain area in Brooklyn, NY, it's a HUGE coincidence that all of those places just happen to exist right there.

[@gilbert7253]

Hello de France il faut regarder le live de 1985 super 🙂👍👍👍👍

[@heywon77]

This is my favorite track of Dire Straits songs.