Speedway At Nazareth MARK KNOPFLER

[Jakester]

MARK KNOPFLER
Speedway At Nazareth

Words & Music:
Mark Knopfler
After two thousand came two thousand and one
To be the new champions we were there for to run
From springtime in Arizona 'til the fall in Monterey
And the raceways were the battlefields and we fought 'em all the way

Was at Phoenix in the morning I had a wake-up call
She went around without a warning put me in the wall
I drove Long Beach, California with three cracked vertebrae
And we went on to Indianapolis, Indiana in May

Well the Brickyard's there to crucify anyone who will not learn
I climbed a mountain to qualify I went flat through the turns
But I was down in the might-have-beens and an old pal good as died
And I sat down in Gasoline Alley and I cried

Well we were in at the kill again on the Milwaukee Mile
And in June up in Michigan we were robbed at Belle Isle
Then it was on to Portland, Oregon for the G.I. Joe
And I'd blown off almost everyone when my motor let go

New England, Ontario we died in the dirt
Those walls from mid-Ohio to Toronto they hurt
So we came to Road America where we burned up the lake
But at the speedway at Nazareth I made no mistake

[happyscrappy-t]

Didn't he release that about four years ago? My brother picked up the cd. I've only heard it once.

[Spike]

It was on the album "Sailing to Philadelphia" from a few years back. Great album, by the way.

Mark was inspired to write the song after receiving a letter from his pal Stephan Johansson who was racing in CART at the time. He invited Mark to come to a race sometime (Knopfler has quite a collection of vintage motorcycles and cars and does some vintage racing himself). In the letter Johansson included the schedule for that year which was the inspiration for the song.

Mark started writing the song several years before the album was released. He says that this song was one that he picked up and put down several times over a few years before finishing it. In there you'll see where he used various events in the song - such as Mansell's back breaking spin at Phoenix - to bring it to life.

I saw Mark in concert in July of '05 at the Greek Theater. An amazing show and one of the clear high points of the evening was when he and the band played this song. The crowd, as they say, went wild.

[Ren Butler]

After two thousand came two thousand and one

Brilliant writing.

J/K I really like MK.

[Craigar1]

Heard it on the Radio, had to go and buy it.

Makes me sad to play it now.

[Jakester]

ditto......that's why I posted it....