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  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
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About

Genius Annotation

This song was released in 1985 as the closer to the album of the same name and is the third single from it, reaching #16 in the UK that October. It did not chart in the US.

The song is about the brotherly bonds forged by the destructive fire and pains of war. A bond between soldiers on both sides of the trenches. It focuses on the Falklands War, which was going on when Dire Straits lead singer Mark Knopfler wrote the song in 1982. The Falklands War was a conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over islands off the coast of Argentina that each country claims rights to. A new version of the song was released in 2007 by Knopfler in order to raise money to bring veterans of the war back to the Falklands as a way to treat their PTSD.

The video shows images of World War I, which corresponds with the theme of the song about war and brothers in arms.

The song is reported to be the first ever released as a CD single. It was released in the UK in 1985.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

I was told this song was about the American Civil war. Is this true?
Genius Answer

No. The song is about the Falklands War, as noted in the song bio.

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