Sultans of Swing Lyrics
You get a shiver in the dark
It's raining in the park, but meantime
South of the river, you stop, and you hold everything
A band is blowing Dixie, double-four time
You feel alright when you hear the music ring
[Verse 2]
Well, now you step inside
But you don't see too many faces
Coming in out of the rain to hear the Jazz go down
Competition in other places
Ah, but the horns, they blowing that sound
Way on down south
Way on down south, London town
[Verse 3]
Check out guitar George
He knows all the chords
Mind, it's strictly rhythm
He doesn't want to make it cry or sing
Yes and an old guitar is all he can afford
When he gets up under the lights to play his thing
[Verse 4]
And Harry doesn't mind if he doesn't make the scene
He's got a daytime job, he's doing alright
He can play the Honky Tonk like anything
Saving it up for Friday night
With the Sultans
With the Sultans of Swing
Yeah
And a crowd of young boys
They're fooling around in the corner
Drunk and dressed in their best brown baggies
And their platform soles
They don't give a damn
About any trumpet playing band
It ain't what they call Rock and Roll
And the Sultans
Yeah, the Sultans, they play Creole
Creole
[Guitar Solo – 3:20-4:13]
[Verse 6]
And then the man, he steps right up to the microphone
And says at last, just as the time bell rings
“Goodnight, now it's time to go home”
Then he makes it fast with one more thing
“We are the Sultans—
We are the Sultans of Swing”
[Guitar Solo – 4:46-5:49]
About
“Sultans of Swing” by Mark Knopfler appears on the self-titled Dire Straits album – 1978. It’s a story song, told as a second person narrative about the London Jazz experience and is based on Knopfler watching a band perform in a pub in Deptford, who called themselves The Sultans of Swing.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
Mark Knopfler talked about switching from a National Steel guitar to a Fender Stratocaster to perform the song:
I thought it was dull but as soon as I bought my first Strat in 1977, the whole thing changed, though the lyrics remained the same. It just came alive as soon as I played it on that ‘61 Strat which remained my main guitar for many years and was basically the only thing I played on the first album and the new chord changes just presented themselves and fell into place.
- 6.Sultans of Swing
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