Dire Straits: Your Latest Trick Meaning

Song Released: 1986

Your Latest Trick Lyrics

All the late night bargains have been struck
Between the satin beaus and their belles
Prehistoric garbage trucks
Have the city to themselves

Echoes roars dinosaurs
They're all doing the monster mash
And most of the taxis, most of the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   Billi Swann

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   Aug 16th 2015 !⃝

   All the late night bargains have been struck
   Between the satin beaus and their belles
   Prehistoric garbage trucks
   Have the city to themselves
   
   Basically a scene is set in the city nightlife and guys and their dates whether paid or unpaid have decided their plans.
   
   
   Echoes roars dinosaurs
   They're all doing the monster mash
   And most of the taxis, most of the whores
   Are only taking calls for cash
   
   Another scene setting but the mention of whores suggests more along the lines that the previous mention of bargains being struck was solicitation.
   
   I don't know how it happened
   It all took place so quick
   But all I can do is hand it to you
   And your latest trick
   
   The writer possibly alludes to the fact that he was on of those who struck a bargain.
   
   Well now my door was standing open
   Security were laid back and lax
   But it was only my heart that got broken
   You must have had a pass key made out of wax
   
   Now he speaks metaphorically about his vulnerability and feelings for the girl/whore in question and her gaining easy access to his emotions and hurting him.
   
   You played robbery with insolence
   And I played the blues in twelve bars down Lover's Lane
   And you never did have the intelligence to use
   The twelve keys hanging off from my chain
   
   He uses metaphorical musical terms to explain how she used and hurt him explaining that some of her moves were un-necessary because he was giving her full access to all he had whether emotionally or physically.
   
   Chorus
   
   Now it's past last call for alcohol
   Past recall has been here and gone
   The landlord he finally paid us all
   The satin jazzmen have put away their horns
   
   And we're standing outside of this wonderland
   Looking so bereaved and so bereft
   Like a bowery bum when he finally understands
   The bottle's empty and there's nothing left
   
   Now he sets the scene of a band who have played their gig and had their fill of alcohol and women/groupies/whores, and they now feel a kind of sadness and emptiness now that the party is over and its time to go home.
   
   I think the writer has quickly fallen for a girl who doesn't feel the same way, probably because she is a call girl, and she is on to the next guy.
2. anonymous

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   Mar 25th 2021 !⃝

   I like to imagine that the song is about a woman who he's known for awhile which he admires in some way.She somehow managed to get past his 'defenses' as he ultimately falls in love with her which is her latest trick.
   
   My other interpretation is that it's about someone's feelings about their own country or state, about how they thought it had their best interests in mind but then something happens (a war maybe) something that makes them realize they are just nothing but a resource, they feel betrayed by their greatest love which is their country.
3. malcamsba

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   Jun 2nd 2020 !⃝

   I love this song. And it was very hard to translate into portuguese. Words ok. But the meaning, uauu...It is art..reading the interpretations I can say...no one is right, no one is wrong.
4. anonymous

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   Jul 10th 2019 !⃝

   Yes, this song is about prostitution as most Dire Straits songs are. Wild West is not about the US but about the West End London where prostitution used to flourish. Sad, depressing songs but amazingly real and hardcore blues with some excellent guitar work and in this song awesome trumpet and sax solos.
   kevhenon March 03, 2006
   -from songfacts

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. Stowee

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   Jul 9th 2019 !⃝

   The musician has had his heart broken. He's seeing everything as transactional. She didn't rob him literally. "And you never did have the intelligence to use
   The twelve keys hanging off from my chain"
   
   But he is comparing her to a prostitute "your latest trick"
6. anonymous

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   Oct 28th 2018 !⃝

   Yes, isn't it about sudden transformations? Whether it's God's latest trick or Satan's... depends how you view the creator/dream of life!
7. anonymous

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   Jan 29th 2018 !⃝

   It's about how satan has quickly deceived you.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. anonymous

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   May 10th 2016 !⃝

   Except for the fact that he is British and talking about Britain.
9. anonymous

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   Jun 21st 2014 !⃝

   Before I start, I have to say I really like the interpretation above, and especially in the context of this album it's probably the best interpretation. I have always seen this song as a sad look at the love he just now realizes is gone. In the wee hours of the morning, with the clarity sometimes found in those hours, he gets it, and is more stunned than anything. And the word images, along with the musical images, are all about the texture, the feel of the moment, outside and inside himself. My bit of context is that the next song is about 'laughter after pain', or the healing one needs following the loss of love.
10. AskTheIranian

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    Nov 15th 2012 !⃝

    In this Album, he has criticized the Army(Ride acress the river), the citizens (Money for Nothing) and here comes all the system, one more time.
    
    The song describes the American society. He is amazed how they could have such a society. How they got to this point. He is old now. His life is gone. He has lived his life so he leaves it to others who are going to continue(...hand it to you And your latest trick). So I think it goes like this:
    
    All the late night bargains have been struck
    All kind of imaginable crimes have been commited
    Between the satin beaus and their belles
    Refers to American citizens (particularly the criminal night owls).
    Prehistoric garbage trucks
    The industries (big corporates)
    Have the city to themselves
    have the control over the country
    
    Echoes roars dinosaurs
    Describing the industries. Well, something like their barks is worse than their bites.
    They're all doing the monster mash
    “They” here refers again to criminals (big corporates). They do all kind of mixing and combining different tricks and crimes (monster mash). Mash might also refer to the movie “Mash” . Check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MASH_(film)
    
    And most of the taxis, most of the whores
    The service industry (business people, brockers, …..)
    Are only taking calls for cash
    Are only looking for money without any morals
    
    I don't know how it happened
    It all took place so quick
    But all I can do is hand it to you
    And your latest trick
    
    
    Well now my door was standing open
    They have invaded my privacy (tried to brain-wash me)
    Security were laid back and lax
    Nobody is helping (no-one cares) even the security (Politician who are responsible for this)
    But it was only my heart that got broken
    They couldn't do any harm to me, I am only sad to see what they are doing.
    You must have had a pass key made out of wax
    What kind of key they had to get into my brain? Something out of wax (public media)?
    
    You played robbery with insolence
    Using insolence, they robbed my thought (changed my thought- brain washed people)
    And I played the blues in twelve bars down Lover's Lane
    I could only try to tell others all about this.
    And you never did have the intelligence to use
    You the folk (American citizens) don't have the intelligence.
    The twelve keys hanging off from my chain
    so many hints, I have given you.
    
    I don't know how it happened
    It all took place so quick
    But all I can do is hand it to you
    And your latest trick
    
    
    Now it's past last call for alcohol
    My life is gone
    Past recall has been here and gone
    The best of my life was here and has passed
    The landlord he finally paid us all
    The people who run this country, big corporates and politicians (criminals)
    The satin jazzmen have put away their horns
    Those who were protecting this system have also stopped (got old)
    
    And we're standing outside of this wonderland
    We are all retired
    Looking so bereaved and so bereft
    We have lost our lives (now bereaved) and lonely and abondoned (bereft)
    Like a bowery bum when he finally understands
    Like the citizen (bowery is a part of New York, but here it refers to all citizens) who were devoted to this country
    The bottle's empty and there's nothing left
    They also finally understand that their life was in vain.
    
    
    I don't know how it happened
    It was faster than the eye could flick
    But all I can do is hand it to you
    And your latest trick

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