If you’re a fan of wonderful songwriting, there might not be anything more exciting than when a major writer tackles a sprawling topic. Many times, they’ll make connections that break down complex topics in ways that make you understand what it all means for you and me.
Mark Knopfler is one of those writers with both the guts and the goods to pull off a song like that, and it’s something he demonstrated from his earliest releases with Dire Straits. The band’s stellar 1982 song “Industrial Disease” seems to contain a whole world within it, and there’s not a lyrical misstep to be found throughout its six breathless verses.
“Disease” of the Week
Throughout his career, Mark Knopfler has often been compared to Bob Dylan. That’s both the ultimate compliment to a songwriter and somewhat of a lazy fallback, as it tends to shortchange all the unique facets writers like Knopfler bring to the table in their own right.
In any case, you can certainly draw a parallel from “Industrial Disease” to the epics Dylan wrote in the ‘60s, songs like “Desolation Row” or “Visions of Johanna” that are longer and contain more verses than the typical song (and often, like “Industrial Disease,” have no choruses). That was an area that Dylan opened up to all writers who followed him.
Of course, pulling off such a song is no easy feat, which is why there are precious few that even venture to try it. Knopfler showed an affinity and ability for those saga-type songs right from the start of the Dire Straits catalog. (Their breakout single “Sultans of Swing” certainly qualifies, albeit on a smaller, more radio-friendly scale.)
Knopfler went all-in on longer tracks on Dire Straits’ 1982 album Love Over Gold. There are only five songs on the entire record, and “Industrial Disease” is the shortest at just under six minutes. An attempt to cut it for single release was a misfire, as the song lost much of its scope and power in the truncated version and didn’t reach the Top 40. Best to stick with the full version, which lets Knopfler’s unflinching vision of the working class blues unfurl unfiltered before you.
Exploring the Lyrics to “Industrial Disease”
On “Industrial Disease,” Knopfler aimed his antennae at a widespread malaise that was infecting the United Kingdom around that time. The problem was twofold, in that the manufacturing industry was suffering, which in turn led to more people struggling to make ends meet. As they worked long hours at thankless jobs, they felt the crunch in their own way.
Technically, the “Industrial Disease” isn’t a physical ailment, but Knopfler uses the connotations of the word “disease” to goose the narrative: Somewhere in the corridors someone was heard to sneeze / Goodness me, could this be industrial disease? It brings about a panic with it as if it were an actual widespread health scare, as everyone takes precautions and looks for scapegoats: Some blame the management, some the employees.
Knopfler ladles on some gallows humor to make the whole thing go down smoothly, and that fits the music, which, with his chugging guitar (which often sounds like someone coughing) and Alan Clark’s chirping organ, is more fun than ominous. The doctor’s prescription is particularly biting: You’ve got smoker’s cough from smoking, brewer’s droop from drinking beer / I don’t know how you came to get the Bette Davis knees / But worst of all, young man, you’ve got industrial disease. Knopfler played in a pre-Dire Straits band called Brewer’s Droop, yielding the opportunity for a fun little in-joke.
Although both the management and workforce complain throughout the song about this crisis, Knopfler eventually shows more concern for the latter. In the final verse, he warns against the tactics of the powers that be: They’re pointing out the enemy to keep you deaf and blind / They wanna sap your energy, incarcerate your mind.
“Industrial Disease” is the kind of song where you could endlessly pick out clever lines or literary and poetic techniques used in the lyrics. Dire Straits made it all sound like a good-time anthem, even as Mark Knopfler gave a thorough explanation of a societal ill with no easy cure.
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