#12: Going Home: Dire Straits:1983
Sometimes songs don’t need words; the music is simply enough to take the listener to a higher place. Classical, symphonic and instrumental music can speak with just as many words as the largest tome; and they speak directly to the heart.
Dire Straits Going Home is simply a magnificent piece of music which was written by Mark Knopfler for the 1983 movie Local Hero. Knopfler wrote all the music for this film and in 1984 was nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Score for a Film.
The piece starts with a rather gentle and nostalgic tone, then a section where guitar and sax engage in something that is close to love making and then the music simply explodes into a rich, deep celebration of everything good, abundant and hopeful.
Whenever I watch music clips I am struck by the absolute joy evident in the musicians and the unity as each plays their part to create something beautiful. It’s as if they are playing to themselves and each other and we, as an audience, are simply observers of something bigger than all of us but for which we are all richer to be able to experience.
For this one I am going to embed 2 youtube clips.
This first is of Dire Straits Live in Sydney in 1986 and the second is of Knopfler Live in Barcelona in pre covid 2019. Going Home is his song. It is interesting to note how years might change us but that good music never dies.
YouTubeGoing Home (Local Hero) — Dire Straits – 1986 – Sydney LIVE – YouTubeT
Going Home Local Hero – Mark Knopfler (Barcelona SBD 2019) –
Going Home is another of hubby’s chosen funeral songs and I would simply love it if when that time comes his going home is as full of joyful abandonment as the music of this song is.
Way leads onto Way 