Anyone up for a bit of Celtic music? I know I am, especially if it is from the masterful guitarist and singer-songwriter Mark Knopfler. A lot of his solo music (post Straits) is unassuming and restrained, but I find it very soothing to the ear. Mark’s raw material seems pure feeling love. Piper To The End is the final track on Knopfler’s solo album Get Lucky.
The song is about Knopfler’s uncle Freddie who was a piper of the 1st Battalion, Tyneside Scottish, the Black Watch, Royal Highland Regiment. Freddie carried his pipes into action in World War II and was killed with fellow fighters at Ficheux, near Arras in the north of France in May 1940. He was just 20 years old.
Knopfler describes the moment of Freddie’s death in the latter’s own words:
This has been a day to die on
Now the day is almost done
Here the pipes will lay beside me
Silent with the battle drum
Knopfler explains that he never knew Freddie personally, his mother’s brother, but that he was very close to his uncle Kingsley, Freddie’s older brother. Kingsley taught Knopfler to play the boogie-woogie piano.
[Verse 1]
When I leave this world behind me
To another I will go
And if there are no pipes in heaven
I’ll be going down below
If friends in time be severed
Someday we will meet again
I’ll return to leave you never
Be a piper to the end
[Verse 2]
This has been a day to die for
Now the day is almost done
Up above a quiet seabird
Turns to face the setting sun
Now the evening dove is calling
And all the hills are burning red
And before the night comes falling
Clouds are lined with golden thread
[Bridge]
We watched the fires together
Shared our quarters for a while
Walked the dusty roads together
Came so many miles
Knopfler explained in an interview:
The pipes always made sense to me, and growing up in Glasgow as well as Newcastle, in my grandmother’s home, there were Jimmy Shand records, so the sound of Celtic music always seems familiar to me.
Mark has no problem sharing the stage with other players (as seen below in Cologne in 2015), and he has no problem backing them up like he’s doing here. He doesn’t overplay like others, and maintains/controls his volume just right to complement the song and his band. It’s easier said than done. A pro’s pro.
References:
1. Piper to the End – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Great song…kinda sad but hopeful too…..
Knopfler seems to put a ‘Stockdale Paradox’ into his music of maintaining unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties and at the same time have the discipline to confront the the most brutal facts of your current reality whatever they might be.
That’s why he is so laid back and cool…never seems to be rushing the music…..love it….
He’s a puritan… same here love it, man
Have a great day Matt!
Will do, you too friend.
That’s a beautiful tune. I primarily associate post Dire Straits Mark Knopfler with Americana and roots rock rather than Celtic folk. That said, my actual knowledge of Knopfler’s solo catalog is dismal.
I think your characterization of Knopfler’s style hit the nail on the head: unassuming and restrained. While I like guitar shredders every now and then, I’m generally in the less-is-more camp!