Brothers in Arms (song)

"Brothers in Arms"
Song

"Brothers in Arms" is a 1985 song by Dire Straits, appearing as the last track on the album of the same name. It is in G# minor.

There are actually two studio recorded versions of this song: the album version which is 6:58 seconds, and the shorter version which is 6:05 seconds and features slightly different (and shorter) solos at the beginning and end of the song. The version that appears on Dire Straits' greatest hits album, The Very Best of Dire Straits, is 4:55.

The song can be understood as being sung by a dead soldier which died in battle to his friend which survived, telling him about the need to continue on with life after the harsh reality of battle (first verse), thanking him for fighting with him in the battle (second verse), telling that we only have one place to live (third verse), and that wars are a foolish thing (fourth verse).

Usage of song in television and films

It has been extensively used as background music in television and films.

• The 25th episode of Miami Vice, called "Out Where the Buses Don't Run"; virtually the entire song was used.
• The war drama McBain, about Colombia, begins with the song.
• The Canadian comedy-drama Due South, set during a thunderstorm.
• The season finale of the second (2000-2001) season of the American political drama The West Wing (episode title: "Two Cathedrals"). The song played through the final few minutes of the episode as President Bartlet was about to reveal to the public whether he would seek re-election. A thunderstorm was again in the background.
• The 2001 movie Spy Game, starring Brad Pitt and Robert Redford. The song played during the scene in which Pitt's character gets off a train in Germany and meets Redford's character and his wife. In this scene too, the weather is wet and kind of melancholy, true to the feelings the song generates.
• During the Croatian war of Independence, one of the most famous video footages of the war was Banijska ratna praskozorja (Banija war dawns) featuring the "Brothers in Arms" melody in the background. The footage was made by a famous TV journalist, Gordan Lederer, showing dawn patrol of Croatian soldiers in the morning mist. At the end of the footage, which is very melancholic and much of it is in slow motion, Gordan Lederer was shot by a Serb sniper.
• In an Australian TV show commemorating Shane Warne the introduction used the first part of the song.
• On the 30th May 2007 the song was re-released for download on online music stores in memory of those who died and in tribute for those whom fought during the 1982 Falklands War, during the 25th Anniversary year of the conflict. All the royalties are going into a fund which is ringfenced for funding pilgrimages to the Falklands.

Covers

• Folk legend Joan Baez covered the song for her 1987 album of the same name.