Heavy Fuel

"Heavy Fuel"
Single by Dire Straits
from the album On Every Street
B-side	"Planet of New Orleans" "Kingdom Come"
Released	1991
Format	CD cassette
Genre	Roots rock hard rock
Length	5:10
Label	Vertigo Warner Bros.
Writer(s)	Mark Knopfler
Producer(s)	Mark Knopfler Alan Clark
Dire Straits singles chronology
"Iron Hand" (1991) "Heavy Fuel" (1991) "On Every Street" (1992) On Every Street track listing "You and Your Friend" (6) "Heavy Fuel" (7) "Iron Hand" (8)

"Heavy Fuel" is a song by the rock band Dire Straits released on their album On Every Street in 1991. It was also released as a single, and reached number one on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart^[1] in the United States, after "Money for Nothing", their second song to do so.

In "Heavy Fuel", Mark Knopfler ironically extols the virtues of such conventionally frowned-upon vices as cigarettes, hamburgers, Scotch, lust, money, and violence.

The phrase "You gotta run on heavy fuel" is from the novel Money by Martin Amis, on which Knopfler based his lyric.^[2]

Track listings

1. "Heavy Fuel"
2. "Planet of New Orleans"
3. "Kingdom Come"

Chart performance

Chart (1990–91)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)[3]	26
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4]	19
Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[5]	19
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[6]	17
France (SNEP)[7]	32
Germany (Official German Charts)[8]	48
Italy (FIMI)[9]	22
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[10]	24
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[11]	25
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12]	34
Poland (LP3)[13]	17
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[14]	55
US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks[1]	1
US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks[1]	22

References

1. "On Every Street – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
2. Dagostino, Susan (25 May 2006). "Mark Knopfler's Song Inspirations". Ezinearticles.com.
3. "Australian-charts.com – Dire Straits – Heavy Fuel". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
4. "Ultratop.be – Dire Straits – Heavy Fuel" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
5. "Radio 2 Top 30 : 14 december 1991" (in Dutch). Top 30. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
6. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 2042." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
7. "Lescharts.com – Dire Straits – Heavy Fuel" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
8. "Officialcharts.de – Dire Straits – Heavy Fuel". GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
9. "Indice per Interprete: D" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
10. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Dire Straits - Heavy Fuel search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
11. "Dutchcharts.nl – Dire Straits – Heavy Fuel" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
12. "Charts.org.nz – Dire Straits – Heavy Fuel". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
13. "HEAVY FUEL – Dire Straits" (in Polish). LP3. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
14. "Dire Straits: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 June 2014.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics