Mark Knopfler Quotes & Sayings

After a while, though, the group just wasn't a good vehicle for the songs I'd written. — Mark Knopfler

What I always try to do is to respond to the song; I've always rebelled against theory. — Mark Knopfler

Sometimes you're the windshield. Sometimes your the bug. — Mark Knopfler

I love Gibsons, and Nationals, too. There's something magical about them. — Mark Knopfler

We prayed these wars would end all wars
In war we know is no romance.
(Done With Bonaparte) — Mark Knopfler

I'm not a collector, however, and I have no desire to own 50 or 60 guitars. — Mark Knopfler

Then came the churches, then came the schools, then came the lawyers, then came the rules. — Mark Knopfler

There's so many different worlds, so many different suns. And we have just one world, but we live in different ones. — Mark Knopfler

My playing is fairly straightforward, really, and everything's pretty much standard no frills or special effects. — Mark Knopfler

While listening, to things like western swing, for instance, I'd work something out in my head, then play it on my National; not the same song, but one that captured the feeling of the original tune. — Mark Knopfler

A Strat was a thing of wonder .. when I was 14 or 15, the Shadows were a big influence, and they had the first Strats that came to England. I like to play all kinds of guitars, but I wasn't getting the sound I really wanted until I got a Stratocaster — Mark Knopfler

I just want to be able to play and make people feel good with what I do. When you're thinking that way, anything can happen. And, usually, what happens is good. — Mark Knopfler

The music just tends to be a vehicle for that poetry. — Mark Knopfler

The music you make is shaped by what you play it on ... if you feel that you're not getting enough out of a song, change the instrument - go from an acoustic to an electric or vice versa, or try an open tuning ... do something to shake it up ... — Mark Knopfler

As far as being a 'player's player,' you've only got to go to Nashville or Argentina and you can forget about it. The world is full of amazing guitar players, and you know it, and I know it ... it's a humbling experience ... — Mark Knopfler

Last time I was sober, man I felt bad,
Worst hangover that I ever had.
It took six hamburgers, Scotch all night,
Nicotine for breakfast just to put me right. — Mark Knopfler

I bad a piano long before I bad a guitar, and the practice I got just playing those three chords in a basic 12-bar blues song was very important. — Mark Knopfler

While I was into many different types of music, and played with many different local groups, I really didn't have a band to call my own until Dire Straits was formed in 1977. — Mark Knopfler

Every guitar I own gets used and has its purpose. — Mark Knopfler

When you point your finger 'cause your plan fell through You got three more fingers pointing back at you! — Mark Knopfler

I don't like definitions, but if there is a definition of freedom, it would be when you have control over your reality to transform it, to change it, rather than having it imposed upon you. You can't really ask for more than that. — Mark Knopfler

Well, I was born in Scotland and spent the first six years of my life there. Then I went to Newcastle-On-Tyne in northeast England, close to Scotland. — Mark Knopfler

I used to go to the school folk club with my songs when I was only 13 or so and say "this is a traditional folk song" and sing it with a bad Irish accent to disguise the real source. — Mark Knopfler

And what have you got at the end of the day?
What have you got to take away? — Mark Knopfler

It was so late and she'd be sleeping
He came through her home town
With the moonlight on the crossroads
And the green light shining down
And the bell at the railroad crossing
And the horn from far away
And his Silver Eagle passing
Half a mile from where she lay

At his feet a sea of faces
Make devotions with their love
Clap their hands and plead their cases
Call for blessings from above
Like the rolling waves forever massing
To crash and foam and creep away
And the Silver Eagle passing
Half a mile from where she lay

Road signs flow into the headlights
Whisper names and fall behind
He finds some honor in the darkness
Hopes for grace and peace of mind
And he thinks of how they'd lay together
He'd run his fingers through her hair
And he wonders if she'll ever
Come to know that he was there — Mark Knopfler

There happened to be guitar classes at the college, and there was a guitar teacher there with whom I used to play. In addition, I also would go out into country schools and teach little kids basic guitar and singing a few times a week. — Mark Knopfler

I shoulda learned to play the guitar. — Mark Knopfler

Each song has its own secret that's different from another song, and each has its own life. Sometimes it has to be teased out, whereas other times it might come fast. There are no laws about songwriting or producing. It depends on what you're doing, not just who you're doing. — Mark Knopfler

I was into playing American music, especially the blues. — Mark Knopfler

Juliet, the dice were loaded from the start. / When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet? — Mark Knopfler

My idea of heaven is a place where the Tyne meets the Delta, where folk music meets the blues. — Mark Knopfler

I'm also getting an Ovation Legend, because I like them so much. — Mark Knopfler

I don't really think of Dire Straits as a sound, you know. It. just depends on the song, and the stuff we're doing is so varied. — Mark Knopfler

Sometimes you gotta be an s.o.b., you wanna make a dream reality — Mark Knopfler

There should be laughter after pain, there should be sunlight after rain, these things have always been the same, so why worry now?
[Why Worry?] — Mark Knopfler

No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn,
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm. — Mark Knopfler

I even played bass for a while. Besides playing electric guitar, I'd also get asked to play some acoustic stuff. But, since I didn't have an acoustic guitar at the time, I used to borrow one from a friend so I could play folk joints. — Mark Knopfler

We used to play in a theater club in London called The King's Head. When the theater let nut, around 10:00 P.M., we'd be ready to go and really get it on for about an hour or so. — Mark Knopfler