A Mark In Time
Mark Knopfler Discussion => Mark Knopfler Discussion Forum => Topic started by: Knopflerfan on December 14, 2021, 04:25:23 PM
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As the majority of us are feeling festive my thoughts at this time of year often think why hasn't the master written anything with a Christmas theme? and then I got to thinking that a few of his tracks have a Christmas theme albeit in the background......
any other thoughts, Ideas notes etc
The Ragpickers Dream - Two Tramps/HoBo's who get into trouble at Christmas
Matchstick Man - MK stranded in Penzance, Cornwall on Christmas Eve
To quote the last few lines from 'The Ragpickers Dream'
'Merry christmas and happy days
In the Ragpicker's dream'
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River Towns has also a setting at Christmas days in the lyrics, although not very happy one.
And funny how mind works - suddenly Vic And Ray appeared, Christmas Morning, here they are..
LE
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River Towns has also a setting at Christmas days in the lyrics, although not very happy one.
And funny how mind works - suddenly Vic And Ray appeared, Christmas Morning, here they are..
LE
Haha, Brilliant!!
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Seconday Waltz?
Corned Beef City ?
:)
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Seconday Waltz?
Corned Beef City ?
:)
Indeed - 'The School Christmas party is coming'....
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The truck driver in Corned Beef City also comes home for Christmas:)
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matchstick man !!! lol
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There is absolutely no evidence in the lyrics to support this, and if you read MK’s interview about the album then it confirms I’m wrong, but Old Pigweed has always struck me as being a bit Christmassy.
I know the song is about someone ruining a meal by putting rotten ingredients in there, but the whole thing sounds to me like someone using Christmas Day leftovers to make a stew.
Is that weird?!
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Robbie the Reindeer of course, and Comfort and Joy is a Christmas film.
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I can't explain it, but for me Monteleone has an unusual winter Christmas mood and I listen to this song a lot at this time of the year.
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Can’t believe no one has posted this yet.
https://youtu.be/s4FJ81GSPqk
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Can’t believe no one has posted this yet.
https://youtu.be/s4FJ81GSPqk
Wondered who would post that!!!
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Robbie the Reindeer of course, and Comfort and Joy is a Christmas film.
Good call there Dusty!!
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There is absolutely no evidence in the lyrics to support this, and if you read MK’s interview about the album then it confirms I’m wrong, but Old Pigweed has always struck me as being a bit Christmassy.
I know the song is about someone ruining a meal by putting rotten ingredients in there, but the whole thing sounds to me like someone using Christmas Day leftovers to make a stew.
Is that weird?!
Not at all, I'm with you with Old Pigweed and I like the idea of the leftovers making stew...
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I can't explain it, but for me Monteleone has an unusual winter Christmas mood and I listen to this song a lot at this time of the year.
The Wintertime being in the studio/workshop carving his masterpieces? Yeah I get it...
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Not at all Christmas but it's a mistake friends & Colleagues have made to the opening of 'Remembrance Day' with the Morris Dancing 'bells' at the start which people have mistaken for Sleigh bells!
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The truck driver in Corned Beef City also comes home for Christmas:)
Driving home for Christmas??!!!
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Yes, but the MK version is without small bells :)
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Yes, but the MK version is without small bells :)
If you are referring to RD then I suggest you listen to the first 4 seconds to clearly hear Morris Dancing Bells that then fade into the opening....
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Again, there isn't a direct Christmas link, but it always gives me the feeling of the last few days before Christmas, the song being Radio City Serenade, it is a song that doesn't get talked about much, but I love it, it is a great example of one of Mark's songs that really sets a scene, you can see what he is describing in your minds eye, it just has that atmosphere of that time if year.
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'Before gas and tv' gives me a kind of happy, sad, melancholic Christmas feeling, even if there is no direct connection.
I wish Mark and Guy would give us a little greeting from the studio, just a photo or to and a little hi. I miss them, in a way only other fans understand..
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Again, there isn't a direct Christmas link, but it always gives me the feeling of the last few days before Christmas, the song being Radio City Serenade, it is a song that doesn't get talked about much, but I love it, it is a great example of one of Mark's songs that really sets a scene, you can see what he is describing in your minds eye, it just has that atmosphere of that time if year.
Yes I get that too!
As to Mark and Guy saying hi, I’m actually spending Christmas with them………..at 10 Downing Street. Open invite this year for the Christmas party.
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Again, there isn't a direct Christmas link, but it always gives me the feeling of the last few days before Christmas, the song being Radio City Serenade, it is a song that doesn't get talked about much, but I love it, it is a great example of one of Mark's songs that really sets a scene, you can see what he is describing in your minds eye, it just has that atmosphere of that time if year.
Yes! I feel the same. Always I wonder why there is no pause between Got to Have Something and Radio City...
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How about the middle bit of TR?
Radio says tonight its gonna freeze.....
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How about the middle bit of TR?
Radio says tonight its gonna freeze.....
Nice!!
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The Ragpicker's dream and Old pigweed for me too.
And also the very beginning of Remembrance Day… sounds like the bells of Santa Claus' sledge. ;D ;D
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The Ragpicker's dream and Old pigweed for me too.
And also the very beginning of Remembrance Day… sounds like the bells of Santa Claus' sledge. ;D ;D
Exactly what I've been saying! People mistake it for just that rather than Morrismens bells!!!
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The Ragpicker's dream and Old pigweed for me too.
And also the very beginning of Remembrance Day… sounds like the bells of Santa Claus' sledge. ;D ;D
Exactly what I've been saying! People mistake it for just that rather than Morrismens bells!!!
Ah yes missed your post sorry
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The Ragpicker's dream and Old pigweed for me too.
And also the very beginning of Remembrance Day… sounds like the bells of Santa Claus' sledge. ;D ;D
Exactly what I've been saying! People mistake it for just that rather than Morrismens bells!!!
Ah yes missed your post sorry
No, that's fine! I'm glad you pointed it out!! :wave
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How about the middle bit of TR?
Radio says tonight its gonna freeze.....
That could be any day of the British weather couldn’t it?
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How about the middle bit of TR?
Radio says tonight its gonna freeze.....
That could be any day of the British weather couldn’t it?
Yes but the song isn't set in Britain ;)
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How about the middle bit of TR?
Radio says tonight its gonna freeze.....
That could be any day of the British weather couldn’t it?
Yes but the song isn't set in Britain ;)
Me thinks MagicElliott was trying to be funny! We all know TR isn't set in the UK :wave
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THANKS to you guys I've created my first MK Christmas playlist. Great thread! :clap
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THANKS to you guys I've created my first MK Christmas playlist. Great thread! :clap
:thumbsup
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5.15am - certainly set during Winter time in the North...
'Snow laying all around'
'a shroud of snow upon the roof'
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'After the Beanstalk' - I always think of the Pantomime version of 'Jack & the Beanstalk'
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5.15am - certainly set during Winter time in the North...
'Snow laying all around'
'a shroud of snow upon the roof'
Yes you are right. I also return to this crime story in winter, but not during Christmas :)
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Another one - Skydiver...
The famous Wincanton races which take place each year on Boxing Day!
'Today I lost a packet at Wincanton
Dive Bomber in the 2.15'
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River Towns has also a setting at Christmas days in the lyrics, although not very happy one.
And funny how mind works - suddenly Vic And Ray appeared, Christmas Morning, here they are..
LE
River Towns as LE has quite rightly pointed out..
It’s quiet over Christmas
If you got no place to go
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5.15am - certainly set during Winter time in the North...
'Snow laying all around'
'a shroud of snow upon the roof'
Yes you are right. I also return to this crime story in winter, but not during Christmas :)
5.15am on 5th January 1967 according to wiki.
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5.15am - certainly set during Winter time in the North...
'Snow laying all around'
'a shroud of snow upon the roof'
Yes you are right. I also return to this crime story in winter, but not during Christmas :)
5.15am on 5th January 1967 according to wiki.
Ah of course 'The one armed bandit murder'
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At 5.15 a.m. on a cold morning in January 1967, Durham coal miner Tom Leak was cycling home from his night'sshift at the local pit.
In South Hetton, just past PesspoolBridge, he noticed a Mark X Jaguar
saloon car, poorly parked, about fourteen inches from the kerb, and also damaged. Snow covered the backwindow, bonnet and much of the top. He cupped his hands and peered intothe car through the near-side passenger window. A man was lying across theback seat. Leak opened the door, said loudly,'Hey, mate, you can't park there,' and shook his left leg. As he did so, Leakrealised that the man was dead. He hailed three passing colleagues, alsogoing home, and they called the police. A local GP, Dr John Hunter, was then summoned, though the police advised him not to touch the body. It was clear that the man, who had been shot three times, was a murder victim - Angus Sibbet'
The key though to the song is the miner whose presence in the tale reflects on both the murderous events that took place in the 60's but also a mining disaster that took place in the previous century. All the pieces are accurately told right down to the cars in the story. The final verse when what i assume are the ghosts of mining folk from the disaster ather round the car is filled with the names given to there respective jobs including the pit ponies.
The theory put forward by the prosecutors of the murder was that the vicitm had been skimming money off his collections and that the club owners he worked for (owners of The Birdcage Club) got wise to this and killed him although the actual evidence was very flimsy and the final surviving defendant has always proclaimed his innocence.
If you have an affinitiy with the north east of england the song is very moving, to me the final verse is one of the most beautiful he has yet penned.
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I am not sure but I think "hard shoulder" hasn't be quoted.... "Chains for the snow"
not especially Christmas, but a I find a winter mood in that song
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I am not sure but I think "hard shoulder" hasn't be quoted.... "Chains for the snow"
not especially Christmas, but a I find a winter mood in that song
Very good JF, indeed Chains for the tyres in the snow.....like it..
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Another song which has a tenuous Christmas connection is One More Matinee, the line 'we're proud to be the oldest ugly sisters in variety' makes me think of the pantomime versions of Cinderella (which seems to fit the song lyric as the ugly sisters are usually played by middle aged men), come to think of it there are lines later in the song about a fairy and going to the ball which also fit this theme.
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Another song which has a tenuous Christmas connection is One More Matinee, the line 'we're proud to be the oldest ugly sisters in variety' makes me think of the pantomime versions of Cinderella (which seems to fit the song lyric as the ugly sisters are usually played by middle aged men), come to think of it there are lines later in the song about a fairy and going to the ball which also fit this theme.
If I remember rightly this was something to do with MKs days at The Chronicle....but yes quite fitting with the Pantomime theme!!
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Another song which has a tenuous Christmas connection is One More Matinee, the line 'we're proud to be the oldest ugly sisters in variety' makes me think of the pantomime versions of Cinderella (which seems to fit the song lyric as the ugly sisters are usually played by middle aged men), come to think of it there are lines later in the song about a fairy and going to the ball which also fit this theme.
Good point!
Although I always thought they really were women… did women used to be the ugly sisters?
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Another song which has a tenuous Christmas connection is One More Matinee, the line 'we're proud to be the oldest ugly sisters in variety' makes me think of the pantomime versions of Cinderella (which seems to fit the song lyric as the ugly sisters are usually played by middle aged men), come to think of it there are lines later in the song about a fairy and going to the ball which also fit this theme.
Good point!
Although I always thought they really were women… did women used to be the ugly sisters?
With reference to Pantomime:
The ugly stepsisters are characters in the fairy tale and pantomime, Cinderella. They are the daughters of Cinderella's wicked stepmother, who treat her poorly.
Traditionally, the two stepsisters are played by men (although in some adaptions, they are played by women, whereas in others they are played by a man and a woman)
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'Yon Two Crows' - Is Probably more of a 'Winter' tune more than a specific Christmas tune but I have this vision of a Farmer along with his trusty Border Collie trudging the hills in search of his sheep on a typical Winters Snowy day.....I cannot help think of that with this masterpiece....
'Or yon two crows up over the hill
Looking for winterkill'
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What it is - has lots of reference to being a song set in Edinburgh during the Winter.....
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What it is - has lots of reference to being a song set in Edinburgh during the Winter.....
Frost on the monuments.
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Another song which has a tenuous Christmas connection is One More Matinee, the line 'we're proud to be the oldest ugly sisters in variety' makes me think of the pantomime versions of Cinderella (which seems to fit the song lyric as the ugly sisters are usually played by middle aged men), come to think of it there are lines later in the song about a fairy and going to the ball which also fit this theme.
If I remember rightly this was something to do with MKs days at The Chronicle....but yes quite fitting with the Pantomime theme!!
No, it was when he was a junior reporter on The Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds. He went to interview the ugly sisters at The City Varieties theatre where they were playing Cinderella.
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Another song which has a tenuous Christmas connection is One More Matinee, the line 'we're proud to be the oldest ugly sisters in variety' makes me think of the pantomime versions of Cinderella (which seems to fit the song lyric as the ugly sisters are usually played by middle aged men), come to think of it there are lines later in the song about a fairy and going to the ball which also fit this theme.
If I remember rightly this was something to do with MKs days at The Chronicle....but yes quite fitting with the Pantomime theme!!
No, it was when he was a junior reporter on The Yorkshire Evening Post in Leeds. He went to interview the ugly sisters at The City Varieties theatre where they were playing Cinderella.
Ah brilliant - thanks superval.... :wave
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What it is - has lots of reference to being a song set in Edinburgh during the Winter.....
Frost on the monuments.
'And it's cold on the tollgate'
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So with many contributions the MK 'Christmas/Winter Playlist looks like this so far....
What it is,
Corned Beef City,
One more Matinee,
5.15am,
Vic & Ray,
Skydiver,
Yon Two Crows,
River Towns,
Hard Shoulder,
Radio City Serenade,
The Ragpickers Dream,
Hard Shoulder,
Matchstick Man,
Secondary Waltz,
Old Pigweed,
After the Beanstalk
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Winters covers between December and February. I think that mentioning winter is not enough to think about Christmas as a connection.
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Winters covers between December and February.
and even the first 3 weeks in march ;)
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Winters covers between December and February. I think that mentioning winter is not enough to think about Christmas as a connection.
If we are going to be picky about it, Winter is actually December to March....
Advent is the end of November to 24th December, Christmas is 25th December to 6th January so the mention of winter alone is good with me...
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Winters covers between December and February.
and even the first 3 weeks in march ;)
Indeed it is....
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Winters covers between December and February.
and even the first 3 weeks in march ;)
Indeed it is....
that's why I think we're wrong when we say the seasons in the order : spring-summer-autumn-winter
if you look at the calendar, winter has only 10 days at the end of the year, while its most improtant part is at the start of the year
so the "correct" order of seasons during a year should be : winter-spring-summer-autumn ;D
well, in fact the most logical thing should have been to start the year when the spring starts. And then, the winter would have been at the end of the year, and all would have been fine :D
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Winters covers between December and February. I think that mentioning winter is not enough to think about Christmas as a connection.
If we are going to be picky about it, Winter is actually December to March....
Advent is the end of November to 24th December, Christmas is 25th December to 6th January so the mention of winter alone is good with me...
Lol
Whatever works for you, ;D
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So with many contributions the MK 'Christmas/Winter Playlist looks like this so far....
What it is,
Corned Beef City,
One more Matinee,
5.15am,
Vic & Ray,
Skydiver,
Yon Two Crows,
River Towns,
Hard Shoulder,
Radio City Serenade,
The Ragpickers Dream,
Hard Shoulder,
Matchstick Man,
Secondary Waltz,
Old Pigweed,
After the Beanstalk
Exactly my playlist.
Oh wait a minute.........just added Border Reiver :wave
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Oh wait a minute.........just added Monteleone :)
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Just hearing Seattle and it fits perfectly for Christmas even it has nothing to do with it :)
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Just hearing Seattle and it fits perfectly for Christmas even it has nothing to do with it :)
I guess anything from MK can fit in with Christmas depending on one's mood?!
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Just hearing Seattle and it fits perfectly for Christmas even it has nothing to do with it :)
I guess anything from MK can fit in with Christmas depending on one's mood?!
In the interview for The Ragpicker's Dream album and about the title track in particular Mark said it's his ultimate topic and what he's music is about — human dignity. He said everybody deserves to get a Christmas gift, so in a way yes, any MK song could qualify for Christmas just by design :lol
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Just hearing Seattle and it fits perfectly for Christmas even it has nothing to do with it :)
I guess anything from MK can fit in with Christmas depending on one's mood?!
In the interview for The Ragpicker's Dream album and about the title track in particular Mark said it's his ultimate topic and what he's music is about — human dignity. He said everybody deserves to get a Christmas gift, so in a way yes, any MK song could qualify for Christmas just by design :lol
Lovely 'words of wisdom' from the Master....
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please, can someone explain where this pic MK in Santa Claus comes from ?
it was for charity I think, but can't remember exactly
thanks
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thanks to all for your posts, ideas, quotes, songs, links, videos
I wrote a little article about this discussion, with a link to here
Happy Christmas to you all !
https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/mark-knopfler-et-noel/
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thanks to all for your posts, ideas, quotes, songs, links, videos
I wrote a little article about this discussion, with a link to here
Happy Christmas to you all !
https://textes-blog-rock-n-roll.fr/mark-knopfler-et-noel/
JF, that article is just perfect - well done. It is written just how we've been discussing it. Thanks to those who have contributed to making this an exciting thread and I think we have collectively produced an awesome MK Chrimbo playlist!!
'Merry Knopflermas to all'
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no direct link to Christmas in the song, but I just saw this :
https://youtu.be/b59xAo0ddd8
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no direct link to Christmas in the song, but I just saw this :
https://youtu.be/b59xAo0ddd8
Love and Happiness - that works with that lovely Christmassy photo montage. It just proves like I said earlier I reckon most Knopfler tunes would work at Christmas time...
Shame we didn't have any Love and Happiness on this forum earlier today...
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'Sending love and hope, happy Christmas and New Year wishes to everyone around the world in these challenging times.' - MK
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'Sending love and hope, happy Christmas and New Year wishes to everyone around the world in these challenging times.' - MK
https://mobile.twitter.com/MarkKnopfler/status/1474726623026974723
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:thumbsup
On the official website too
https://www.markknopfler.com/
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:thumbsup
On the official website too
https://www.markknopfler.com/
Well done... :wave
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Even a few words by Mark can make my day. ;)
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Even a few words by Mark can make my day. ;)
Oh I agree!!
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Even a few words by Mark can make my day. ;)
Yes. And for me too. :)