Sobre el álbum
El álbum Shangri-La, de 2004, es el sonido de un músico legendario en un lugar legendario. Grabado en los estudios Shangri-La de Malibú, donde artistas como Bob Dylan o The Band crearon obras maestras, el disco está impregnado de una atmósfera relajada y de una profunda influencia de la música de raíces americana. Por ello, es uno de sus trabajos más cálidos y orgánicos.
El álbum contiene "Boom, Like That", uno de sus temas más enérgicos y rockeros en solitario, basado en la historia del fundador de McDonald's. Sin embargo, la mayor parte del disco se mueve en un terreno más sosegado, explorando el blues, el country y el folk con una elegancia y una maestría superlativas.
La banda suena increíblemente empastada, creando un colchón sonoro perfecto para la voz y la guitarra de Mark Knopfler. En resumen, "Shangri-La" es un trabajo exquisito y de una calidad atemporal, el disco de un artista que, sin nada que demostrar, se dedica a celebrar la música que le ha formado.
Listado de Canciones
- 5.15 A.M.5:54
Letra
5.15 A.M. Snow laying all around A collier cycles home From his night shift underground Past the silent pub Primary school, workingmens club On the road from the pithead The churchyard packed With mining dead Then beneath the bridge He comes to a giant car A shroud of snow upon the roof A mark ten jaguar He thought the man was fast asleep Silent, still and deep Both dead and cold Shot through With bullet holes The one armed bandit man Came north to fill his boots Came up from cockneyland E-type jags and flashy suits Put your money in Pull the levers Watch them spin Cash cows in all the pubs But he preferred the new nightclubs Nineteen sixty-seven Bandit men in birdcage heaven La dolce vita, sixty-nine All new to people of the tyne Who knows who did what Somebody made a call They said his hands Were in the pot That he'd been skimming hauls He picks up the swag They gaily gave away Drives his giant jag Off to his big pay day The bandit man Came north to fill his boots Came up from cockneyland E-type jags and flashy suits The bandit man Came up the great north road Up to geordieland To mine The mother lode Seams blew up or cracked Black diamonds came hard won Generations toiled and hacked For a pittance and black lung Crushed by tub or stone Together And alone How the young and old Paid the price of coal Eighteen sixty-seven My angel's gone to heaven He'll be happy there Sunlight and sweet clean air They gather round the glass Tough hewers and crutters Child trappers and putters The little foals and half-marrows Who pushed And pulled the barrows The hod boys And the rolleywaymen 5.15 A.M. - Boom, Like That5:49
Letra
I'm going to san bernardino Ring-a-ding-ding Milkshake mixers That's my thing, now These guys bought A heap of my stuff And I gotta see a good thing Sure enough, now Or my name's not kroc That's kroc with a 'k' Like 'crocodile' But not spelled that way, yeah It's dog eat dog Rat eat rat Kroc-style Boom, like that The folks line up All down the street And i'm seeing this girl Devour her meat, now And then I get it, wham As clear as day My pulse begins to hammer And I hear a voice say: These boys have Got this down Oughtta be a one of these In every town These boys have Got the touch It's clean as a whistle And it don't cost much Wham, bam You don't wait long Shake, fries Patty, you're gone And how about that Friendly name? Heck, every little thing Oughtta stay the same Or my name's not kroc That's kroc with a 'k' Like 'crocodile' But not spelled that way, now It's dog eat dog Rat eat rat Kroc-style Boom, like that You gentlemen Ought to expand You're going to need A helping hand, now So, gentlemen Well, what about me? We'll make a little Business history, now Or my name's not kroc Call me ray Like 'crocodile' But not spelled that way, now It's dog eat dog Rat eat rat Kroc-style Boom, like that Well we build it up And I buy 'em out But, man they made me Grind it out, now They open up a new place Flipping meat So I do, too Right across the street I got the name I need the town They sell up in the end And it all shuts down Sometimes you gotta Be an S. O. B. You wanna make a dream Reality Competition? Send 'em south If they're gonna drown Put a hose in their mouth Do not pass 'go' Go straight to hell I smell that Meat hook smell Or my name's not kroc That's kroc with a 'k' Like 'crocodile' But not spelled that way, now It's dog eat dog Rat eat rat Kroc-style Boom, like that - Sucker Row4:56
Letra
Somebody's gotta crack A whip around here Who's minding the store? Shake it up sell some beer What's your Money maker for? Pay day We're packin' 'em in Six-gun annie And buffalo jill But who's to say They'll be back again For a refill? Honey, you know the drill Ain't no left turn Down sleepy time street You gotta be fast But you gotta stay loose Thinking On your feet Slick as grass Through a goose We gotta Rationalise The payroll Is giving me chills You and me's Getting organised It's kill or be killed Honey, you know the drill Well they can all look down On sucker row But they all forget The tallest trees From acorns grow Though they ain't yet I never look down On a sucker stake They all pay the bills I never gave a sucker An even break And i never will A beautiful vision Keeps coming to me I see A miracle mile Flying in For free Service With a smile High rollers Fancy hotels Big time singers Topping the bill You gotta have a feel For the stuff that sells Call it a skill Honey, you know the drill Somebody's gotta crack A whip around here Who's Minding the store? Shake it up Sell some beer Money walking Through the door Annie's arriving At a dangerous age Don't you Go getting ill Get another woman Up in the cage Who ain't over the hill Honey, you know the drill - The Trawlerman's Song5:02
- Back To Tupelo4:31
Letra
Around the time of 'clambake' Movie number twenty-five You and the lying dutchman Are still in overdrive You're as strong as when you started Mississippi in your soul You can still be marlon brando And the king of rock and roll It isn't just the records No, you must have hollywood The songs alone are not enough That much is understood You'll soon be back in memphis Maybe then you'll know what to do The storylines they're giving you Are just not ringing true Oh, it's a ways to go Back to tupelo When you're young and beautiful Your dreams are all ideals Later on it's not the same Lord, everything is real Sixteen hundred miles of highway Roll back to the truth And a song to give your mother In your first recording booth Around the time of 'clambake' That old dream's still rolling on Sometimes there'll be the feeling Things are going wrong The morning star is fading Lord, the mississippi's cold You can still be marlon brando And the king of rock and roll But it's a ways to go Back to tupelo - Our Shangri-La5:41
Letra
It's the end of a perfect day for surfer boys and girls The sun's dropping down in the bay and falling off the world There's a diamond in the sky our, evening star in, our shangri-la Get that fire burning strong right here and right now It's here and then it's gone there's, no secret anyhow We. may never love again to the music of guitars in our shangri-la Tonight your beauty burns into my memory The wheel of heaven turns above us endlessly This is all the heaven we've got right, here where we are in our shangri-la Tonight. your beauty burns into my memory The wheel of heaven turns above us endlessly This is all the heaven we've got right, here where we are in our shangri-la In. our shangri-la In our shangri-la - Everybody Pays5:24
Letra
I got shot off my horse So what? I'm up again And playing In one of these Big saloons on main You can come up here Take a look Around these sinners' dens You're only ever going to find One or two real games Nobody's driving Me underground Not yet anyway But either on the strip Or on the edge of town Everybody pays Everybody pays to play Yeah, you ought to stay Right where you are In sawdust land It's probably the Safest place to be With your Greasy little pork pies And your shoestring hands It makes No difference to me All those directions Which we never took To go our different ways Who went and wrote The oldest story in the book? Everybody pays Everybody pays to play Curl up inside A boxcar dream And disappear With a couple Low roller friends You were never one For trouble So get out of here I knew the game Was dangerous back then But nobody's breezing Through these swinging doors Just ups and walks away Everybody has to leave Some blood here on the floor Everybody pays Everybody pays to play - Song For Sonny Liston5:06
Letra
Song for sonny liston So many mouths To feed on the farm Sonny was the second To the last one born His mamma ran away And his daddy beat him bad And he grew up wild Good love he never had He had a left Like henry's hammer A right like betty bamalam Rode with the muggers In the dark and dread And all them sluggers Went down like lead Well he hung with the hoods He wouldn't stroke the fans But he had dynamite In both his hands Boom bam Like the slammer door The bell and the can And the bodies on the floor Beware the bear's in town Somebody's money says The bear's going down Yeah, the bear never smiles Sonny's going down For miles and miles Sonny's going down For miles and miles The writers didn't like him The fight game jocks With his lowlife backers And his hands like rocks They didn't want to have A bogey man They didn't like him And he didn't like them Black cadillac Alligator boots Money in the pockets Of his sharkskin suits Some say the bear Took a flop They couldn't believe it When they saw him drop He had a left Like henry's hammer A right like betty bamalam Rode with the muggers In the dark and dread And all them sluggers Went down like lead Joe louis was his hero He tried to be the same But a criminal child Wears a ball and chain So the civil rights people Didn't want him on the throne And the hacks and the cops Wouldn't leave him alone Beware the bear's in town Somebody's money says The bear's going down Yeah, the bear never smiles Sonny's going down For miles and miles Sonny's going down For miles and miles At the foot of his bed With his feet on the floor There was dope in his veins And a pistol on the drawer There was no investigation As such He hated needles But he knew too much Criss-crossed On his back Scars from his daddy Like slavery tracks The second-last child Was the second-last king Never again was it the same In the ring He had a left Like henry's hammer A right like betty bamalam Rode with the muggers In the dark and dread And all them sluggers Went down like lead They never could be sure About the day he was born A motherless child Set to working on the farm And they never could be sure About the day he died The bear was the king They cast aside Beware the bear's in town Somebody's money says The bear's going down Yeah, the bear never smiles Sonny's going down For miles and miles Sonny's going down For miles and miles "some day they're gonna write a Blues for fighters. It'll just be for Slow guitar, soft trumpet and a bell. " Sonny liston 1962 - Whoop De Doo3:53
Letra
If i'm over the moon It's because i'm over you A day at a time And i'm tickety-boo I don't carry on The way i used to Whoop de doo Whoop de doo If i'm doing great It's because when i get home I don't go straight To my answerphone And the tears don't come The way they used to Whoop de doo Whoop de doo So many little things Are so much better now They were only the little things Anyhow If i'm over the moon It's because that's what i am Funny that once I used to give a damn And i'd do anything In the whole wide world for you Whoop de doo Whoop de doo Anything Anything you'd want me to Whoop de doo Whoop de doo - Postcards From Paraguay4:07
Letra
One thing was leading to the next I bit off more than I could chew I had the power to sign the cheques It wasn't difficult to do I couldn't stay and face the music So many reasons why I won't be sending postcards From paraguay I robbed a bank full of dinero A great big mountain of dough So it was goodbye companero And cheerio I couldn't stay and face the music So many reasons why I won't be sending postcards From paraguay I never meant to be a cheater But there was blood on the wall I had to steal from peter To pay what I owed to paul I couldn't stay and face the music So many reasons why I won't be sending postcards From paraguay - All That Matters3:08
Letra
My darling girl My darling girl You're all that matters In this wicked world All that matters All that matters My darling boy My darling boy All of my sunshine And all of my joy You're all that matters All that matters Well, I can't stop the pain When it calls I'm a man And I can't stop the rain When it falls, my darling Who can? My darling girl My darling girl You're all that matters In this wicked world All that matters All that matters My darling friend My darling friend All we've got going Is love in the end It's all that matters All that matters - Stand Up Guy4:32
Letra
Brew the coffee in a bucket Double straight man and banjo If you don't got the snake oil Buster, you don't got a show Who puts the doh-re-me In our pockets Keeps the party going on? It's the man Who sells the potions I'm just one who plays the songs Now they generally buys The bigger size They usually rub it in I drank it once, it tasted Like grease and paraffin It's mostly alcohol, okay You can't deny it's strong We was going through the motions 'til the doctor came along There stands the bottle Ladies and gentlemen All these bottles Don't have to tell you, friends These days miracles Don't come falling from the sky Raise your glasses to the doctor To a stand up guy When the monkeyshine is flying And he's promising the cure He says the french For your lovesick blues La maladie d'amour He gets the chumps all laughing But he gets a few to buy Here's to beefsteak When you're hungry And whiskey when you're dry Now the band'll blow their moolah Like sailors gone ashore Now we're going to west helena To gamble, drink and whore Let's you and me All make whoopee Here's mud in your eye Here's to all the gals you ever want And heaven when you die There stands the bottle Ladies and gentlemen All these bottles Don't have to tell you, friends These days miracles Don't come falling from the sky Raise your glasses to the doctor To a stand up guy There's a big cheese with a cigar Been sizing up the show He wants to get the doctor Pitching on the radio I will make a switch to guitar But the rules all still apply They want to trust somebody Yeah, they want a stand up guy There stands the bottle Here's to absent friends All these bottles Dead soldiers in the end These days miracles Don't come falling from the sky Raise your glasses to the doctor To a stand up guy To the doctor A stand up guy - Donegan's Gone3:05
- Don't Crash The Ambulance5:06