Wednesday, August 12, 2015

The Walk of Life - Busking!



Very happy to hear the song "The Walk of Life" by Dire Straits from the movie trailer that was on my last post. (From "A Walk In The Woods".)   From the wonderful 1980's, much of that music just makes me happy.

Now, I watched a video of the song and the one that I saw had all these American sports in the background, and I thought to myself...hmm, that's interesting, I thought that the song was about busking.

Busking...that is what musicians and singers do in England.  They will be on the street or in the Underground and will sing or play an instrument (or both) and will have a case in front of them so that passersby may drop a coin or two. (They must do this all over Europe and the world, for all I know, but since I know only one small corner of England and my small towns of Georgia, I hope you will forgive me. I DO know it is called "busking" in Great Britain!

So....I looked it up and the music video in ENGLAND has the song with a busker in the Underground!  There, it warms my heart when I get the meaning of a song correctly.  Oh, and the very last part of the song, where the phrase "trouble and strife" is mentioned?  I hope that you all know that also is cockney rhyming slang for ....wait for it...."WIFE"!  HA!


Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula. Baby What I Say

Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

He do the song about the sweet lovin' woman

He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life

Here comes Johnny and he'll tell you the story
Hand me down my walkin' shoes
Here come Johnny with the power and the glory
Backbeat the talkin' blues
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play
Dedication devotion
Turning all the night time into the day


He do the song about the sweet lovin' woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, he do the walk of life

Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
Be-Bop-A-Lula, Baby What I Say
Here comes Johnny singing I Gotta Woman
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion

Yeah the boy can play
Decidation devotion
Turning all the night time into the day

And after all the violence and double talk
There's just a song in the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, you do the walk of life


         





Thanks to my newest follower,  Wendy from Australia! These violas bloom in the late winter, early Spring in Georgia...these are from March of last year.  For you, Wendy!
And I am always grateful to the regular readers of this blog. You guys are the best!

25 comments:

  1. A good song...and one that brings back some good memories of a fun time. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It sure does sound good to hear real music!

      Delete
  2. Busking was a new word for me. Amazing how there is always something new to learn every day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I never knew that word either until I went to London in 1981! And funny thing, even if we have the same word, we pronounce is differently.
      You should have seen the funny looks I got when I asked for "oregano" in the grocery store there! (They say OR-ee-GAN-o" and we say "or-REG-nan-o")...Wait YOU know how we say it here! LOL.

      Delete
  3. Fun music, and beautiful flowers!

    ReplyDelete
  4. In the New York City subways and some streets you can find musicians playing. They have a cup or box for donations. I'm not sure if it's true but I heard you're not allowed to beg in NY but if you play music or have art to sell then it's okay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that sounds like something that they would do in big cities. You might guess that I am not a big city girl!

      Delete
  5. In the New York City subways and some streets you can find musicians playing. They have a cup or box for donations. I'm not sure if it's true but I heard you're not allowed to beg in NY but if you play music or have art to sell then it's okay.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It is a great song to dance to. We had great fun with it when it was popular. We got just as silly with it as we felt.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi there Kay~
    I actually have read the word "busking" in one of the many British mysteries I read!
    Good memories from the 80's too!
    Stay cool,
    Dorothy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Dorothy!
      You are like me, I have read so many British mysteries and seen so many British TV shows, that I know a lot of phrases and words that most Americans don't know! HA! I remember a lot of the music from the 80's, I liked it!
      You stay cool too! xx

      Delete
  8. I can't wait for that movie to come out...I know my hubby will love it and I loved the music..thanks for some toe-tapping fun tonight! Have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know about you, but I still love Robert Redford. He has aged better than Nick Nolte! LOL.

      Delete
  9. Replies
    1. It's a great song and I am hope they do have it in the movie! Sometimes, they will use something in the trailer and then, I am disappointed when I don't hear in the movie! But hey, you don' want to know how many times life disappoints me, but I will tell you anyway! HA! xx

      Delete
  10. Do you know, I've heard that song hundreds of times and never knew it was about busking! I love hearing buskers, particulalry the ones playing violins or other instruments. Other kinds of street artists seem to be growing in popularity too - lots of living sculptures at the moment. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Julie!
      I am just happy I was right about the meaning of the song! When I saw the video they made for America (the one with the baseball games and American football games), I thought I must have been wrong! (As usual!)
      OH! And I have such fond memories of buskers on the London Underground! Violins, in particular, are a favorite of mine.

      Delete
  11. Oh, I love that song. Mark Knopfler rules!
    Amalia
    xo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, I love Mark Knopfler too!! I see that he will be in concert in Atlanta in October, I am dropping hints to my husband that I want to see him!!!

      Delete
  12. Ooh, Kay I thought I was looking at my own violas for a minute! What a lovely photo! Thanks for the welcome to your blog!

    The Walk of Life is one of my favourites from the 80s too - I was working in central Australia at the height of its popularity (at a hotel at Ayers Rock) and it takes me straight back there every time I hear it! Until reading your post I hadn't realised it was about busking! We also use the word busking over here - Australian English is more similar to English English than American English.
    So nice to have found your blog!
    (I added a follow-up comment to your last post too!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That photo of our violas...you will laugh when I tell you that I was very happy that my husband got that picture of them, the next morning after the photo was made, we got up and the deer had eaten them down to the stems!!
      AYERS ROCK!! My sister lived in Australia for a while in the 80's and she climbed Ayers Rock. She said that they told her AFTER she climbed it, how many had died doing so! HA! Gotta love that Australian humour (there, I spelled it with a "u" for you!)
      Glad to tell you that this was about busking. It tickles me how our language is English but in the USA, we might not have the same words or we just have to say things differently.
      Do you have a cell phone or a mobile? That's just one example!!

      Delete
  13. Did you see the movie Once? I think you would love it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not seen it but I just looked it up and it looks like I might like it.
      I am not sure if I like the singer though, Glen Hansard. Gee, I hope he never reads my blog, I am sure he would be upset, the video that I just saw had over one million views! HA!

      Delete