About The Song
Mark Knopfler wrote this song to celebrate the street buskers of London, hence the references to “Be-Bop-a-Lula” and “What’d I Say,” two standards that might be part of a singer’s repertoire in the mid-’80s.
The music video shown in America took a different approach: it showed sports bloopers. Stephen R. Johnson, a recent graduate of USC Film School, was the director. It was Mark Knopfler’s idea to put sports in it, which was intercut with live footage. Knopfler’s other directive was to avoid shooting him from the side to avoid the full effect of his nose.
This video did very well on MTV, but it was not the original. The first version of the clip, which was shown outside the US, was more true to the song, with footage of a busker in a subway (or as they call it in England, the tube). The sports-themed video was specifically aimed at American audiences, with footage of American teams.
This was the fourth single released from Brothers In Arms. It benefited from a catchy keyboard sound (played by Alan Clark) and from the album’s second single, “Money For Nothing,” which established the band on MTV and on Top 40 radio in America.
Video
Lyrics
Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
“Be-Bop-A-Lula, ” “Baby What I Say”
Here comes Johnny singing, “I Gotta Woman”
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh yeah, the boy can play
Dedication, devotion
Turning all the night time into the day
He do the song about the sweet lovin’ woman
He do the song about the knife
He do the walk, do the walk of life
Yeah, he do the walk of life
Woohoo
Here comes Johnny, gonna tell you the story
Hand me down my walkin’ shoes
Here comes Johnny with the power and the glory
Backbeat the talkin’ blues
He got the action, he got the motion
Yeah, the boy can play
Dedication, devotion
Turning all the night time into the day
The song about the sweet lovin’ woman
He do the song about the knife
Then he do the walk, do the walk of life
Yeah, he do the walk of life
Woohoo-hoo
Here comes Johnny singing oldies, goldies
“Be-Bop-A-Lula, ” “Baby What I Say”
Here comes Johnny singing, “I Gotta Woman”
Down in the tunnels, trying to make it pay
He got the action, he got the motion
Oh yeah, the boy can play
Dedication, devotion
Turning all the night time into the day
And after all the violence and double talk
There’s just a song in all the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, yeah, you do the walk of life
Hmm, they do the walk of life
Woohoo
Woohoo-hoo
Woohoo-hoo
Woohoo
Woohoo-hoo