BASIC INFORMATION TRACKS LYRICS

BASIC INFORMATION

RELEASE DATE	09.91
RECORDING	Schnee, Bill / Ainlay, Chuck / Orchard, Steve / Strange, Andy / Puig, Jack (Air Studios, London UK)
MIXING	Dorfsman, Neil [1-6,8-12] Clearmountain, Bob / Mackintosh, Avril [7]
MASTERING	Ludwig, Bob (Masterdisk, New York USA)
PRODUCTION	Knopfler, Mark / Dire Straits
CREDITS	We would like to thank the following for their invaluable contributions: Danny Cummings, Paul Franklin, Vince Gill, Manu Katche, Phil Palmer, Jeff Porcaro & Chris White. Strings conducted by Alan Clark & George Martin. And thank you... Sara Schwartz & Emanuelle De La Lubie Harris & Trotter D'Addario strings Ron Eve Robyn Becker and all at Damage Management MK

ALBUM TRACKS

1. Calling Elvis (06:25)
2. On Every Street (05:01)
3. When It Comes To You (04:59)
4. Fade To Black (03:47)
5. The Bug (04:14)
6. You And Your Friend (05:57)
7. Heavy Fuel (04:54)
8. Iron Hand (03:07)
9. Ticket To Heaven (04:23)
10. My Parties (05:30)
11. Planet Of New Orleans (07:44)
12. How Long (03:49)

BONUS TRACKS

13. Kingdom Come (04:14)
14. Millionaire Blues (04:23)

UNRELEASED TRACKS

15. The Long Highway

CALLING ELVIS
Calling Elvis - is anybody home
Calling Elvis - I'm here all alone
Did he leave the building
Or can he come to the phone
Calling Elvis - I'm here all alone

Well tell him I was calling just to wish him well
Let me leave my number - heartbreak hotel
Oh love me tender - baby don't be cruel
Return to sender - treat me like a fool

Calling Elvis - is anybody home
Calling Elvis - I'm here all alone
Did he leave the building
Or can he come to the phone
Calling Elvis - I'm here all alone

Why don't you go get him - I'm his biggest fan
You gotta tell him - he's still the man
Long distance baby - so far from home
Don't you think maybe you could put him on

Well tell him I was calling just to wish him well
Let me leave my number - heartbreak hotel
Oh love me tender - baby don't be cruel
Return to sender - treat me like a fool

Calling Elvis - is anybody home
Calling Elvis - I'm here all alone
Did he leave the building
Or can he come to the phone
Calling Elvis - I'm here all alone

FADE TO BLACK
I wonder where you are tonight
You're probably on the rampage somewhere
You have been known to take delight
In gettin' in somebody's hair
And you always had the knack
Fade to black

I bet you already made a pass
I see a darkened room somewhere
You run your finger round the rim of his glass
Run your fingers through his hair
They scratch across his back
Fade to black

Well maybe it's all for the best
But I wish I'd never been lassoed
Maybe it's some kind of test
I wish I'd never been tattooed
Or been to hell and back
Fade to black

HEAVY FUEL
Last time I was sober, man I felt bad
Worst hangover that I ever had
It took six hamburgers and scotch all night
Nicotine for breakfast just to put me right
'cos if you wanna run cool
If you wanna run cool
If you wanna run cool, you got to run
On heavy, heavy fuel

My life makes perfect sense
Lust and food and violence
Sex and money are my major kicks
Get me in a fight I like dirty tricks
'cos if you wanna run cool
Yes if you wanna run cool, you got to run
On heavy, heavy fuel

My chick loves a man who's strong
The things she'll do to turn me on
I love the babes, don't get me wrong
Hey, that's why I wrote this song

I don't care if my liver is hanging by a thread
Don't care if my doctor says I ought to be dead
When my ugly big car won't climb this hill
I'll write a suicide note on a hundred dollar bill
'cos if you wanna run cool
If you wanna run cool
Yes if you wanna run cool, you got to run
On heavy, heavy fuel

HOW LONG
How long, how long baby
How long has it been
How long you gonna keep me wondering
How long before you see
Stallin' me was wrong - how long

How long, how long you gonna keep
Slappin' my hands away
How long you gonna keep my love at bay
How long before you're sure
My love is strong - how long

How long, how long you gonna keep
Tellin' me you like me fine
How long until I'm gonna make you mine
How long before you wake up
And find a good man gone - how long

IRON HAND
With all the clarity of dream
The sky so blue, the grass so green
The rank and file and the navy blue
The deep and strong, the straight and true

The blue line they got the given sign
The belts and boots marched forward in time
The wood and the leather the club and shield
Swept like a wave across the battlefield

Now with all the clarity of dream
The blood so red, the grass so green
The gleam of spur on the chestnut flank
The cavalry did burst upon the ranks

Oh the iron will and the iron hand
In England's green and pleasant land
No music for the shameful scene
That night they said it had even shocked the queen

Well alas we've seen it all before
Knights in armour, days for yore
The same old fears and the same old crimes
We haven't changed since ancient times

KINGDOM COME
I tell you what!

They don't mess with me, I'm a wild man, son
I got me my very own anti tank gun
I got a jack rabbit with it, guess he was a mean one
Yeah, I've always been a sportsman

Now, there wasn't much left when I got to him
Them big old shells didn't just go through him
Just lumps of fur and that was it
Guess you could say he sure took a hit, alright

Yeah, you want to see my fire power, see my collection
Cause that's my thing, man, perfection
Now I'm talking power in the barrel of a gun
I'll blow anything I want to Kingdom Come

Ba ba boom
Ba ba ba ba bomb
And I'll blow anything I want
To Kingdom Come

Yeah, all you got to do is squeeze on the trigger
And a little bitty human get a whole lot bigger
Cause there's a time for talking and a time to shoot them down

And this mama-jama don't pussy foot around, alright

Yeah, let them laugh, let them say we're strange
Me and my buddies on the rifle range
But you won't be laughing when it hits the fan
You're going to want to be a survivor, man

Yeah, you got to see my fire power, see my collection
Cause that's my thing, man, perfection
Now, I'm talking power in the barrel of a gun
I'll blow anything I want to Kingdom Come

Ba ba boom
Ba ba ba ba bomb
And I'll blow anything I want
To Kingdom Come

Ba ba ba ba boom
I say we ought to drop the bomb
Yes, and I'll blow anything I want
To Kingdom Come

MILLIONAIRE BLUES
I woke up this morning, my Jacuzzi wouldn't work
Then the butler quit on me, man, can you believe it? Jerk!
Must've been my artistic temperament he couldn't take
How come nobody wants to give me a break?

I got the blues right there, mean and low
I'm as low as the heels of my alligator shoes
You should know how it feels to have these millionaire blues
Millionaire blues

Well, I found one of my bathrooms and I made it to the sink
I called one of my managers up and I poured myself a drink
Oh, I swear I'd kill that little weasel if I could
Checked myself in the mirror - my hair was looking good, but

I had the blues right there, mean and mean and mean and low
As low as the heels on my alligator shoes
You should know how it feels to have these millionaire blues
Millionaire blues
Get down!

Well, so much for breakfast, I couldn't face lunch
I thought I'd raise my spirits with a little champagne brunch

I take the Lamborghini, the flunky parks the car
Can you believe it, man, this other monkey won't let me in the bar!

I said, I said, 'Don't you know who I am, man?' and he says, 'No'
No! Can you believe it?
I'm as low as the heels of these alligator shoes
You should know how it feels to have these millionaire blues
Millionaire blues, to have these millionaire blues,
Millionaire blues

Bad, bad!

That's bad! Yeah

So hard,

It's hard sometimes for a boy

Ah, I like that

That's good

Get down!

You're making a very big mistake, man

Oh yeah

You'll never work in this town again!

All right

MY PARTIES
Well this is my back yard - my back gate
I hate to start my parties late
Here's the party cart - ain't that great?
That ain't the best part baby - just wait
That a genuine weathervane - it moves with the breeze
Portable hammock baby - who needs trees
It's casual entertaining - we aim to please
At my parties

Check out the shingles - it's brand new
Excuse me while I mingle - hi, how are you
Hey everybody - let me give you a toast
This one's for me - the host with the most

It's getting a trifle colder - step inside my home
That's a brass toilet tissue holder with its own telephone
That's a musical doorbell - it don't ring, I ain't kiddin'
It plays America The Beautiful and Tie A Yellow Ribbon

Boy, this punch is a trip - it's OK in my book
Here, take a sip - maybe a little heavy on the fruit
Ah, here comes the dip - you may kiss the cook
Let me show you honey - it's easy - look
You take a fork and spike 'em - say, did you try these?
So glad you like 'em - the secret's in the cheese
It's casual entertaining - we aim to please
At my parties

Now don't talk to me about the polar bear
Don't talk to me about the ozone layer
Ain't much of anything these days, even the air
They're running out of rhinos - what do I care?
Let's hear it for the dolphin - let's hear it for the trees
Ain't running out of nothing in my deep freeze
It's casual entertaining - we aim to please
At my parties

ON EVERY STREET
There's gotta be a record of you some place
You gotta be on somebody's books
The low-down - a picture of your face
Your injured looks

The sacred and profane
The pleasure and the pain
Somewhere your fingerprints remain concrete
And it's your face I'm looking for on every street

A lady-killer - regulation tattoo
Silver spurs on his heels
Says - what can I tell you as I'm standing next to you
She threw herself under my wheels
Oh it's a dangerous road
And a hazardous load
And the fireworks over liberty explode in the heat
And it's your face I'm looking for on every street

A three-chord symphony crashes into space
The moon is hanging upside down
I don't know why it is I'm still on the case
It's a ravenous town
And you still refuse to be traced
Seems to me such a waste
And every victory has a taste that's bittersweet
And it's your face I'm looking for on every street

PLANET OF NEW ORLEANS
Standin' in the corner
Of Toulouse and Dauphine
Waitin' on Marie-Ondine
I'm tryin' to place a tune
Under a Louisiana moonbeam
On the planet of New Orleans
In a bar they call the Saturn
And in her eyes of green
And somethin' that she said in a dream
Inside of my suit I got my mojo root
And a true love figurine
For the planet of New Orleans

New Orleans - the other planet
With other life upon it
And everythin' that's shakin' in between
If you should ever land upon it
You better know what's on it
The planet of New Orleans

Now I'm tryin' to find my way
Through the rain and the steam
I'm lookin' straight ahead through the screen
And then I heard her say
Somethin' in the limousine
'bout taking a ride across the planet of New Orleans

If she was an ace
And I was just a jack
And the cards were never seen
We could have been the king and the queen
But she took me back to her courtyard
Where magnolia perfume screams
Behind the gates and the granite
Of the planet of New Orleans

THE BUG
Well it's a strange old game - you learn it slow
One step forward and it's back to go
You're standing on the throttle
You're standing on the breaks
In the groove 'til you make a mistake

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're a fool in love
Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're going to lose it all

You gotta know happy - you gotta know glad
Because you're gonna know lonely
And you're gonna know bad
When you're rippin' and a ridin'
And you're coming on strong
You start slippin' and slidin'
And it all goes wrong because

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're a fool in love
Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger baby
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're going to lose it all

One day you got the glory
One day you got none
One day you're a diamond
And then you're a stone
Everything can change
In the blink of an eye
So let the good times roll
Before we say goodbye, because

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're a fool in love
Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger baby
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're going to lose it all

TICKET TO HEAVEN
I can see what you're looking to find
In the smile on my face
In my peace of mind
In my state of grace
I send what I can
To the man from the ministry
He's a part of heaven's plan
And he talks to me

Now I send what I can to the man
With the diamond ring
He's a part of heaven's plan
And he sure can sing
Now it's all I can afford
But the lord has sent me eternity
It's to save the little children
In a poor country

I got my ticket to heaven
And everlasting life
I got a ride all the way to paradise
I got my ticket to heaven
And everlasting life
All the way to paradise

Now there's nothing left for luxuries
Nothing left to pay my heating bill
But the good lord will provide
I know he will
So send what you can
To the man with the diamond ring
They're tuning in across the land
To hear him sing

I got my ticket to heaven
And everlasting life
I got a ride all the way to paradise
I got my ticket to heaven
And everlasting life
All the way to paradise

WHEN IT COMES TO YOU
If we can't get along we oughta be apart
And I'm wondering where'd you get that cold, cold heart
Set me free - sign my release
I'm tired of being the villain of the peace

You been giving me a bad time
Tell me what I'd do
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you
Sayin' things that you didn't have to
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you

You only get one life - this I know
I wanna get my licks in now before I go
The fire of love is dead and cold
I gotta satisfy the hunger in my soul

And you been giving me a bad time
Tell me what I'd do
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you
Sayin' things that you didn't have to
How come I always get a hard time
Honey when it comes to you

YOU AND YOUR FRIEND
Will you and your friend come around
Are you and your friend gonna get on down
Will you and your friend come around
Or are you and your friend gonna let me down

If you talk to one another
I'm a hungry man
Let me know one way or the other
So I can make my plans

Will you and your friend come around
Are you and your friend gonna get on down
Will you and your friend come around
Or are you and your friend gonna let me down

I relive the situation
Still see in in my mind
You got my imagination
Working overtime