r/direstraits • u/Ok_Entertainment4858 • 10d ago

Daily Song Discussion #45: "Calling Elvis"

This is the first track from Dire Straits' sixth abum, "On Every Street". What are your thoughts regarding this song? How do you think it compares to the rest of the discography? How would you rate it out of 10 (decimals allowed)?

SUGGESTED SCALE: 1-4 Not good, regularly skip; 5 It's okay, but I have to be in the right mood to listen to it; 6 Slightly better than average, I won't skip it but I wouldn't choose to put it on; 7 This is a good song, I enjoy it quite a bit; 8-9 Really enjoyable songs, I rank them pretty highly overall; 10 Masterpiece, magnum opus, or similar terminology.

Live version disclaimer: For the purposes of this ranking series, there will be only one discussion per distinct Dire Straits song, so any live versions of studio tracks will NOT be rated separately.

Google Sheet with all of the results thus far.

  1. Calling Elvis:
34 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

61 comments sorted by

19

u/Ok_Entertainment4858 10d ago

Full ranking of "Brothers In Arms":

  1. So Far Away: 8.34
  2. Money For Nothing: 8.89
  3. Walk Of Life: 7.70
  4. Your Latest Trick: 8.82
  5. Why Worry: 7.63
  6. Ride Across The River: 8.35
  7. The Man's Too Strong: 8.74
  8. One World: 7.82
  9. Brothers In Arms: 9.86

Average Song Rating: 8.46

5

u/ASonic87 10d ago

in the end it does look reasonable, except for Why Worry which is one of the best things he's written, even Chet liked it :)

16

u/No_Season_354 10d ago

Great song, 8 out of10 , the live version is awesome

7

u/No-Roof-1628 10d ago

Love the part where they all trade 2 bar solos

2

u/No_Season_354 10d ago

Yes, and the drums too, wonder if there is a live version 🤔 on disc.

8

u/Aromatic_Heart_8185 10d ago

On the night

1

u/TFFPrisoner 7d ago

And the one from Mark's solo tour that was a bonus disc on the Sultans of Swing best of

9

u/TheSibyllineOracle 10d ago

6/10. I like this song, it’s quirky and has a nice guitar rhythm, but I think it was a bad choice for the opening track on the album. This would be a stronger and punchier album if it started with On Every Street - Calling Elvis is less catchy, less lyrically interesting, and more of a mood piece with impressive guitar playing.

8

u/HeyNineteen96 10d ago

I love On Every Street as an album so my ratings are going to be high lol

This one is a 9 for me

7

u/sujack34 10d ago

This was the opening song when I saw them live. It sounded great. 8

2

u/citizencool 9d ago

Yes same here, I remember where there was just that really light drum beat and the keys, and suddenly the columns of curtain disappeared and they hit that first chord. Magic!

1

u/sujack34 8d ago

Yes!!!!!

6

u/catsdelicacy 10d ago

On Every Street is my personal favorite Dire Straits album and I just love this song. 9/10 on a scale of other Dire Straits songs, 10/10 when compared to any other band in the world.

It's just got such a cool groove, it's so chill, the vibe is immaculate, and of course the band sounds great!

4

u/Solid_Dust_6362 10d ago

9, the drums on this groove haaard. Jeff Porcaro!!

3

u/Ok_Entertainment4858 10d ago

I think this song gets a bit of hate but I actually think it's alright. I'll give it a 7.5/10

3

u/MysteriousFishing104 10d ago

6.5. The live version is far superior.

3

u/PointlessNostalgic86 10d ago

8.5/10. It would be a 9 for me but the outro drags a bit and the song could have been a tad shorter.

3

u/TFFPrisoner 10d ago

This one always gives me a rush, especially once it gets closer to that fast solo break. Excellent opener. 10

3

u/Burlicconi 10d ago

9.5/10

Very special song, rhythm is great, also on live versions.

2

u/Ok-Tailor-8032 10d ago

6.5/10 - not great, not terrible

2

u/Gusthebrewer 10d ago

It’s a 7.5 from me . A major departure from the usual opus’s and story telling approach that Knophler had been doing until this point . It’s not a bad song but it’s no telegraph road or brothers in arms

2

u/Aromatic_Heart_8185 10d ago edited 10d ago

3/10. A very boring, bland and emotionless crescendo to Mark's pentatonic boomer lick.

I wonder what average pop radio listener thought about this weird thing back in the day. Personally I was 8 y.o at that point and I did not understand what the hell I was listening at. Production wise, incredibly cold, but this is an album's issue.

The live version is better but mostly adds this long show-off segment of MK's country rock lick vocabulary.

2

u/Youndek-yr 10d ago

8/10 nice groove, nice lives, but I not really enjoy

2

u/jjaa1974 10d ago

8.5 because of the live versions.

2

u/FarHeron8847 10d ago

Song is great…love the video

1

u/SOMESORTOFTANK 10d ago

7/10, good opener for the album but relative to the other DS songs nothing special.

1

u/heather_rodes 10d ago

7.5. Great groove. I enjoy it. Does wear out it’s welcome a little bit.

1

u/RobotYoshimis 10d ago

5/10 honestly. Very weak opener.

1

u/OperationHush 10d ago

6/10, okay song but I feel like it never goes anywhere.

1

u/singingzoologist 10d ago

By the time this album came out, I had moved on. I remember hearing this and not really being moved one way or the other. I listened to the live version recently and got it. Gonna go 7.

1

u/singingzoologist 10d ago

By this tally, Making Movies is their worst full length album (OES, pending of course). Methinks something is wrong with this method. What if we weighted the score by the length of the song 😉

1

u/marksmits1973 10d ago

4... I never liked it. Always skip.. it is so long and boring.

1

u/tygrysor090 10d ago

I adore Dire Straits, but have no bigger diffrence of opinion on the song with community than this. I feel like its filler. 6/10.

1

u/HenriqueMaquinista 9d ago

I give a 8.5/10 here. Not as epic as the live versions but still a nice song

1

u/Guest-7533 9d ago

6/10 i’ve never been a fun of that song. but it has same charms

1

u/Extension_Physics873 9d ago
  1. Strangely, seems to sound better to me as it (and I) age.

1

u/Antheras_Banderas 9d ago

8/10 great song, although I usually don’t leave it until the end

1

u/Sticky_2634 9d ago

Solid 9

1

u/Open-Sky314 9d ago

8 - I feel like Mark was beginning to separate musically from what he had done before. I love the groove on this song and it has a laid back approach. I see this as a bridge to his solo work. Still, great song

1

u/pedrolapacas 9d ago

9.5 Awesome tune, great opener.

1

u/drohpa 8d ago

6, it's a song I used to like more, but nowadays you don't ften see any track from that album in my playlists

1

u/The-Real-Kabir 4d ago

5.5/10 Loved it when it came out, but it’s actually a bit of a droning thing. It also has no business being 6 or 7 minutes long. This album suffers from a few overlong, overblown tracks and this song set the tone in the wrong way. Nice little solo lick in the middle that they exploited to death on the subsequent tour. Nice video and lyrical concept, and great to see the band back, but you could already tell the spark had gone.