Walk of Life

"Walk of Life"
Song

"Walk of Life" is a 1985 song by the British rock band Dire Straits. It appeared on their best-selling album Brothers in Arms. It subsequently appeared on their live album On the Night.

The song was nearly excluded from the album when the co-producer Neil Dorfsman voted against its inclusion, but the rest of the band out-voted him.

A simple rock 'n' roll rhythm is used, with chord changes limited to the famous I, IV and V chords. The lyrics reference oldies, including ""I Got A Woman", Be-Bop-A-Lula", "What'd I Say" and "Mack The Knife".

The music video for the song shown in the U.S. features sports bloopers intercut with footage of the band performing the song on a stage, while the UK video features a street musician wearing the same shirt as Mark Knopfler intercut with the band performing on a stage.

"Walk of Life" was the song played during the Space Shuttle Discovery crew wake-up call on STS-114 Flight Day 7.

The introduction to the song was also used for a time as the theme music for Test Match Special Cricket in the United Kingdom.

When the song was originally released, the band explained that a "walk of life" in the context of this song is a traditional journey taken by a storyteller in the countryside, in which he went from town to town telling stories, in the days before radio, television, and recording.

Charts

Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1985	"Walk of Life"	Adult Contemporary	4
1985	"Walk of Life"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	6
1985	"Walk of Life"	The Billboard Hot 100	7