Special Q & A with Ed Bicknell - DISCUSSION THREAD

[dustyvalentino]

I also remember that Guy Fletcher confirmed it on the forum.

Do you?

Thankfully Jules captured all this at the link below. Guy said it COULD be right. And the dots align so it’s likely. But until we get a Mark Lewisohn type digging up studio records (ie never) this will all just be speculation. As things stand, the official “facts” are the credits published by the record company.

https://www.amarkintime.org/forum/index.php?topic=7829.msg157626#msg157626

[ds1984]

I am optimistic that this will be corrected the next time they will release a record including MCTF.

[Rail King]

Thanks for correcting me on "push the boat out" vs. "push the border". Whatever they might have pushed, though, I still consider it likely that they were Mark Knopfler and Ed Bicknell.

Also, I very, very vaguely (and even that is an exaggeration) remember reading somewhere that Let's See You was played over and over again at the studio just to annoy Ed. No idea if there even a sub-particle of truth in that, though.

[dustyvalentino]

I still consider it likely that they were Mark Knopfler and Ed Bicknell.

I don't. The only thing that could be connected to Ed would potentially be speaking about the industry. No matter how bad things had theoretically got, could you really imagine MK claiming that Ed "never had a lot upstairs"? And while we all enjoyed his playing in the NHBs, Ed told us that he had given up his quest to be a professional musician 30 years prior when he was sacked for not being Scottish (valid reason to be fair). Would Ed really be claiming to have more talent in his little finger than someone at that point?

As I said at the start, we'll never know, but there are more ticks in the unlikely than likely column on this one for me.

[Rail King]

Just having listened to Let's See You for the first time in ages, I want to apologize for making such a bold claim. It's obviously rubbish, the lyrics suggest nothing of the kind I was pretending to know. No idea why I felt so certain about it -- if I remember correctly, it was the main theory when the song came out, and I just assumed it was correct for the longest time, without really ever checking the lyrics again.

Listening to it again, I agree with Ed that it's mediocre by Mark's standards (which means: much superior to most other music, be it pop, art or fart). And I agree with you, Dusty, that it's most likely about some other musician. I DO have an idea who that might be, but I'll be wise enough now not to mention a name.

Sorry for wasting your time with this, and just like you, I'm looking forward to getting all the answers when Ed finally writes The Art of the Fart, or whatever that tome will be called. 

[dustyvalentino]

I DO have an idea who that might be, but I'll be wise enough now not to mention a name.

Ooh, give us a hint, or PM me please!

Musically I think it's quite interesting in that it doesn't sound anything like MK's usual stuff, maybe a bit Britpop-y? If you took MK's voice off and had Damon Alburn singing it could be a Blur track.

[Love Expresso]

Yes, come on. Say it or pm me, too. You can't tease us this way without consequences 

LE

[Rail King]

If you took MK's voice off and had Damon Alburn singing it could be a Blur track.

Hahaha, I think I know what you mean, but still that's a bit far-fetched, isn't it? Blur happen to be my second-favourite band of all time (after a little outfit called Dire Straits), and I admire Damon Albarn almost as much as I admire Mark Knopfler. The difference in style is still huge though. Or can you imagine Mark jumping his way through Country House? 

And about the musician who may or may not have been the target of Let's See You: If you want to follow my intuition, don't look very far. He's been mentioned (although not by name) in Ed's Q&A thread abundantly. By the way, if we'd want this confirmed, surely Guy Fletcher would know who the song was about. But, alas, he's just as surely never going to tell us.

[fan no more]

And, again, why is it so certain that the first-person narrator is Mark?

[Rail King]

And, again, why is it so certain that the first-person narrator is Mark?

Nothing is certain in this world. But some things are pretty obvious.