Saturday Morning Soundtrack: "Boom, Like That" -- Mark Knopfler

Right now, in our rock and roll writing class my students are finding rock music that inspires them and creating flash nonfiction pieces we are calling "Liner Notes" where they try to capture their elusive, sometimes visceral reactions to the music, using lyrical language, a critical eye, and vivid imagery. I'll be joining them in this project over the next few months, posting video links to a few of my favorites and my responses to them. Some of these songs will be recent, some I'll be revisiting from a far way off. I don't claim to be a music critic, just a diehard fan. Hope you enjoy!

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"Boom, Like That" -- Mark Knopfler [2005]

Competition? Send 'em south
If they're gonna drown,
Put a hose in their mouth
Do not pass "go," go straight to Hell
I smell that meat-hook smell

Some things just get better with age. Here we have Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits going it solo with "Boom, Like That," a song so American-Gothic it belongs on the shelf next to Flannery O'Connor. It takes a special guy to convince his music label that the lead single from his new album should be about the founder of the McDonald's franchise. I have to imagine that conversation went something like this:


          Mark Knopfler: "So I've got this really great idea for a song, guys. It's about the fella who started up McDonald's."

          Producers: "McDonald's? You mean, like, the fast food joint McDonald's?"

          MK: "Yeah, yeah, man, McDonald's."

          Producers: "I don't know, Mark, that sounds a little . . . topical . . . for this album, don't you think?"

          MK: "No, trust me, McDonald's, man, it's going to be good stuff."

          Producers: "Look, maybe we should stick to something a little less 'conceptual.' What about a song about a guitar 
          player who drives a really fast car? Or maybe a motorcycle. You like motorcycles, don't you, Mark?"
                 
          MK: "No, I'm telling you. I just read this guy's autobiography. It's solid gold, fellas."

          Producers: "Yeah, Mark, we're just not sure about that. Will you at least consider the motorcycle idea?"


And yet the song still got made, and was a success for Knopfler. It tells the biographical tale of Ray Kroc, who discovers a mom-and-pop hamburger stand while selling pre-made milkshake mix, and from those first haunting cicada rhythms, we know that this story is not going to have a happy ending.  After convincing the owners to sell over their name, Kroc makes it his mission to drive every competing hamburger stand in California out of business. (In real life, this included "The Big M," a stand still owned by the original McDonald brothers.) Kroc's plan is simple: offer to buy them out, and if they refuse, build a McDonald's across the street and undersell them into bankruptcy. In his lyrics, Knopfler quotes directly from Kroc himself who once said, "If my competitors were drowning, I'd stick a hose in their mouth and turn on the water. It is ridiculous to call this an industry. This is not. This is rat eat rat, dog eat dog. I'll kill 'em, and I'm going to kill 'em before they kill me. You're talking about the American way--of survival of the fittest."

Sweet guy.

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Love the song? Hate it? Think I've got it all wrong?Please, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. And, if you would like to write a Guest Entry for the "Saturday Morning Soundtrack" series where you creatively respond to one of your favorite rock songs, don't hesitate to contact me with queries.