So Far Away is the opening track on British rock band Dire Straits‘ 5th studio album Brothers in Arms. It is one of the world’s best-selling albums, having sold more than 30 million copies. So Far Away became the band’s fourth top 20 hit, peaking at number 19 in the US and 20 in the UK. Knopfler did a duet version with American country-folk singer Emmylou Harris for his 2006 album, Real Live Roadrunning.
So Far Away is a restrained and mellow number which has only improved to my ears over the years. I love the bass in it. The song taps into themes of loneliness and longing, centering on the feeling of being physically and emotionally distant from a loved one. This sense of isolation is heightened by Knopfler’s distinctive guitar work, which, like many Dire Straits songs, is both soulful and intricate. The song avoids ovet sentimentality but still conveys the aching sadness of separation, making it a powerful ballad.
[Verse 1]
Here I am again in this mean old town
And you’re so far away from me
And where are you when the sun go down?
You’re so far away from me
[Chorus]
You’re so far away from me
You’re so far, I just can’t see
You’re so far away from me
You’re so far away from me, alright
[Verse 2]
I’m tired of being in love and being all alone
When you’re so far away from me
I’m tired of making out on the telephone
‘Cause you’re so far away from me
[Chorus]
[Verse 3]
And I get so tired when I have to explain
When you’re so far away from me
See, you’ve been in the sun, and I’ve been in the rain
And you’re so far away from me
Money For Nothing was a megahit from that album and may have done more harm than good retrospectively as it was criticized of reeking of mega bucks and sell out stadium concerts. Knophler himself concluded “the old rockschool restraints and the undeniably attractive smell of the winning formula seem to block out any such experimental work and what you end up with is something very like the same old story.” He said this just after exploring different creative directions with his work on Bob Dylan’s Infidels.
References:
1. So Far Away (Dire Straits song) – 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 
Love me a bit of Dire Straits. Think So Far Away is a cracking song. Would disagree, however, that Money for Nothing was detrimental. It was probably one of the big reasons that the album sold. Plus, there are still very experimental details in there like the way Knopfler managed to get the guitar tone. Is just a wonderful track overall. 😊
Hey, thanks for your comment Lewis and I think you make a good argument about ‘Money For Nothing’. Although I would steer you to two other comments from readers on that song and their perception of it. Don’t get me wrong, I still like ‘Money For Nothing’ and especially ‘Walk of Life’ which also had huge airplay.
Sometimes I forget this song was on that album. Money For Nothing was played so much that it drowned out a lot of the other songs.
I would love to hear Dylan cover this.
Yes that and ‘Walk of Life’ which are both great songs of course. I’m kinda glad this song has gone under the radar like the title track.
I too would love to have heard Dylan cover this in the early 2000’s on the Never Ending Tour. I’m surprised he hasn’t tbh.
Oh, congratulations are in order re. your Dodgers. Well deserved. What a series coming up with the Mets!
You are right about Walk Of Life…I forgot but yea…that was played to death as well.
…I don’t know how they got passed the Padres with what I think is smoke and mirrors with their pitching staff…but I’ll take it!
I still love ‘Walk of Life’ – I’ve never grown tired of it.
I see what you mean about the Dodgers pitching.
I watched an intriguing YT video the other day about how Detroit are changing the pitching landscape based on their record since August. Pitchers coming in for just 3 innings or so and not letting batters have 2 or more turns to see them. We’ll see if other teams start doing it.
The Dodgers are backed in the corner…I saw that as well although bullpen games have been going on for a while…it just got pushed to an extreme this year with them…and now the Dodgers have to. They only have 3 starters…only two are very good…the other one Walker Buhler is trying to get over an injury.
Baseball needs to change something. Starting pitchers are pitching as hard as they can and stop at 5 or 6 innings. The velocity has hurt pitchers. The Dodgers have 11 pitchers on the IL….and they have had 7 starting pitchers with Tommy John this year and last…They need to teach them how to pitch and not just throw.
We are getting into the weeds here Max on your much loved Dodgers to the point where my limited baseball knowledge is being tested. Haha.
Ok if I understand you correctly, the Dodgers have been slumming it on the pitching front. Based on the video I mentioned about Detroit’s new strategy re. pitching, where it’s maintained that starting pitchers going more than two turns of a batting rotation may be a thing of the past, since they cost too much to have them getting injured so frequently and traditional pitching of this sort shows batters statistically running all over them after seeing them 2 or more times.
On another matter, you know what continually irks me is seeing time and time again umpires getting the call wrong on a pitch. I wrote an article about it years ago. But anyways from a relative newbie that’s my 2 cents.
Out of the Dodgers 5 starting pitchers in the first week of the season…all but one is out for the year…and that one is Yamamoto who pitched yesterday. The Dodgers and other teams focus on velocity…all of the time. It’s wearing pitchers arms out. That is why you rarely see complete 9 inning games anymore by pitchers. BTW….the Dodgers pitchers out for the year? All of them are under 30.
The Tigers built on the Tampa Bay idea about bullpen games…they are doing it really well because they had to…like the Dodgers their pitchers got hurt and they stupidly traded one to the Dodgers Jack Flahtery…but they thought they were out of the race.
Balls and strikes…yea each ump has his own zone.
I’m treated to an insider’s view reading your opinions on this. I could do worse and thanks for giving me a bird’s eye view as a beloved Dodgers fan about the pitching. That’s what I love about Baseball is the romanticism and how it’s an evolving game.
Once again on another matter, just a couple of days ago I wrote an article on the Beach Boys ‘Sloop John B’. I used as a ‘love and theft’ approach (excuse the Dylan inference there) some comments from your readers re. your 2019 article on the same song. To sum it up, I intermingled their comments (those which I could most relate to) to get the ball started on that article, which I hope didn’t piss you off. I probably should have attributed your original article. Anyways that’s that.
Of course not Matt… use anything of mine you want…that doesn’t bother me in the least.
I don’t know about inside info but I do love the game Matt…I always have.
I needed inspiration at the commencement and parts of your users comments gave it to me, so I have you to thank, indirectly as it were.
No problem… that is why I still blog…because of this…the comments.
I think it was the first time I used ‘comments’ from another blog to feed into one of my own articles. I’ve used existing comments from my articles to relay into another song by that same artist, but this was the first time from another esteemed blog such as yours. Cheers and thanks for your understanding. And I hope work and home life is treating you well Max.
I have used stories someone has told in the comments before. When I cover a movie I don’t read critics reviews but I do read people’s comments on IMDB…to give me more angles.
I think in just about every one of my ‘movie reviews’ I have done the same about people’s user comments inserting them sort of paraphrased into my article which like you I find give it more layering.
Yes….I usually put it in my own words and then go with it…just like you.
Great song I’ve always liked. Sonically, “Brothers in Arms” is the standout in the Dire Straits catalog, in my view. I remember it was one of the very first all digitally recorded albums.
In terms of the songs, my favorite Dire Straits albums are their eponymous debut, “Making Movies” and “Love Over Gold.” When I think of “Brothers in Arms”, I can’t escape “Money for Nothing.” While it’s not a bad song, essentially, it was played to death on the radio back in Germany. “Walk of Life” was a close second.
I agree this record is the standout, but I gotta love me some ‘Sultans’ hehe. I didn’t know it was one of the first digitally recorded albums. Interesting.
I think you, Max and I are in agreement on ‘Money for Nothing’, but you have to wonder if they hadn’t done this song how commercially successful ‘worldwide’ they would have been.
I’ve never grown tired of ‘Walk of Life’. Love it.
No question “Money For Nothing” put Dire Straits into the stratosphere. I have to believe it didn’t only fuel sales of “Brothers In Arms” but also sales of their previous albums. And it’s not a bad song. It just was heavily over-exposed. Plus, it finally got the concept of MTV on my radar screen. My parents were late comers to cable, so I pretty much missed the entire MTV era! I still came out okay, I think! 🙂
I think if I remember correctly that as a youngster, ‘Money For Nothing’ and ‘Walk of Life’ were my first foray into their music. I agree that ‘over’ exposure can be detrimental, but there are many still out there like Lewis who just commented here that remain in awe of it.
After my initial exposure I delved into their drop dead ‘Romantic’ treasures like ‘Tunnel of Love’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The former I think is my Desert Is. song from them, with Brothers title track and Sultans treading on its heals.
More songs from Knopfler as a solo artist have appeared on my blog than by the Straits. His soundtrack instrumental ‘Going Home’ is an understated masterpiece IMO, not to mention his gorgeous acoustic work on the ‘Princess Bride’ soundtrack.
The MTV riddled music you alluded to from middle to late 80’s I mostly passed up although there are some rare gems I took-to.
Yeh, I think we didn’t miss out on too much lol
I was more obsessed anyhow in that era getting my hands on anything and everything by Springsteen and Dylan which will come as no surprise friend.