Mark Knopfler: Sultan of Song

Songwriters today face a massive problem, or so it seems. The vast majority of popular songs are love songs or some variant—a trend that has been building for a thousand years or more, at least since 11th-century troubadours swooning about courtly love were all the rage. And from the Beatles to Taylor Swift, it’s common for modern artists to release whole albums virtually confined to the subject of romance. So, how can anyone argue with the common refrain, among musicians and critics alike, that “it’s all been done before”?

If you’re Swift, the answer is to come up with ever more out-there metaphors. Her latest release features a track likening her beloved to an alien who abducted her, then left her naked in a field.

Another option is to opt out. Indeed, Sara Bareilles showed that doing so explicitly—singing “I’m not gonna write you a love song ’cause you asked for it, ’cause you need one”—can itself make for a wonderful and successful song. Not that there’s anything wrong with love songs, of course. But among the greatest musical innovators are those who have seen that there’s a whole world out there beyond the changing weather of one’s heart. Undoubtedly at the top of that list, in terms of both artistic and commercial achievement, is Mark Knopfler, whose Billboard chart-topping hits, funny enough, have all been about musicians—or about people talking about musicians.

Knopfler’s outside-the-box success certainly has something to do with his unique pedigree. . . .

About Jon Hersey

Jon Hersey (@revivingreason) is managing editor of The Objective Standard and holds fellowships at Foundation for Economic Education, where he writes in defense of freedom, and at Objective Standard Institute, where he teaches courses and hosts the podcast “Philosophy for Flourishing.”

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