"Water of Love"
Single by Dire Straits
from the album Dire Straits
B-side"Down to the Waterline"
ReleasedOctober 1978
Recorded1978
GenreBlues rock
Length5:23
LabelVertigo Records
Warner Bros. Records (U.S.)
Songwriter(s)Mark Knopfler
Producer(s)Muff Winwood
Dire Straits singles chronology
"Sultans of Swing"
(1978) 		"Water of Love"
(1978) 		"Lady Writer"
(1979)

"Water of Love" is a song written by Mark Knopfler and originally released on Dire Straits' self-titled debut album. It was also released as a single in the Netherlands in October 1978 and in Australia in December 1978 as a follow-up to the band's first single "Sultans of Swing". The single reached number 28 in the Netherlands and number 54 in Australia.[1][2] The song was also included on Dire Straits live album Live at the BBC and on the multi-artist compilation album More Than Unplugged.[3]

Both "Water of Love" and "Down to the Waterline," as well as "Sultans of Swing," were among the five songs included on Dire Straits' demo tape that the band sent to Charlie Gillett, who played the tape on his radio show leading to the band's first recording contract.[4] It is one of four songs on side 1 of the Dire Straits album which deals with unhappy relationships, and author Michael Oldfield believes that the song is basically about the break-up of Mark Knopfler's marriage.[4] Knopfler described "Water of Love" as one of his songs that came entirely from inside himself rather than putting himself in someone else's shoes.[5] He stated that he wrote it because "I was so fed up. I felt I was going no place. I could see my future stretching out in front of me long and bleak."[5]

Writing in Rolling Stone, Ken Tucker used the song as an example of Knopfler's penchant for mixing clever lines with prosaic ones.[6] Tucker gives as an example the clever line "I need a little water of love" followed by "You know it's evil when you're living alone," which Tucker considers a silly line.[6] Writing in Billboard, Cary Darling praised the song's lyrics but criticises the easy listening arrangement which "fails to grab the listener".[7] Ronald Hawkins described it as a "superbly crafted [song]".[8] "Water of Love" has received support from classic rock radio stations as being among the greatest classic rock songs of all time; for example in 1991 C95 ranked it as #224 all time.[9] The Rolling Stone Album Guide commented on the "stark, romantic vision" of this song and its B-side, "Down to the Waterline," and how that vision contrasted with the bitterness of Dire Straits songs such as "Sultans of Swing".[10]

Several critics have commented that the song's style is reminiscent of J. J. Cale's blues approach.[11][12] Others have noted country music influences.[13][14]

"Water of Love" is one of five songs that Knopfler's publisher made country demos of without Knopfler's approval, leading to a number of country covers of Knopfler's songs.[15] This led to a cover version recorded by The Judds, which appeared on their River of Time album and was a single in the UK where it hit number 174 and in Germany.[15][16][17] Wynonna Judd provided a "nocturnal and mysterious" lead vocal, and Knopfler himself played guitar on the Judds' version.[16][18] Los Angeles Times critic Kristine McKenna described it as a "haunting ballad" and praised Knopfler's "languid and lovely touch" on guitar.[19] Allmusic critic Thom Jurek described the song as "the most seductive tune" on River of Time and The Rolling Stone Album Guide praised Knopfler's "typically pungent" guitar solo.[16][20] Alex Bollard and Lex Vandyke have also covered the song.[3]

In his book My Life in Orange, author Tim Guest recalls listening to Dire Straits' version of the song and the line "Water of love, deep in the ground, but there ain't no water here to be found" as a child hiding behind the sofa and wishing that the water of love would come to him some day.[21] The first person narrator of Caprice Crane's first novel Stupid and Contagious references "Water of Love" as an example of a clever song that she would like to hear quoted instead of the sound of flushing toilets, along with AC/DC's "Big Balls," ZZ Top's "Tush," Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or Frank Sinatra's "My Way".[22] On the Dire Straits live album Live at the BBC, as an introduction to the song they are about to perform, Mark Knopfler, with his signature dead-pan humour, is heard saying, "Okay, well, uh, this is a song called Water of Love. It is a... a strange idea but it's maybe one that you want to think about, a lot..."

Charts

Chart (1978–79) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] 54
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[1] 28

References

  1. ^ a b "Dire Straits – Water of Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  2. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). Sydney: Australian Chart Book. p. 90. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  3. ^ a b "Water of Love". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  4. ^ a b Oldfield, M. (1984). Dire Straits. Sidgwick and Jackson. pp. 33, 42–49. ISBN 9780283989957.
  5. ^ a b Flanagan, Bill (25 January 1986). "Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler: The Eternal Outsider Comes in from the Cold". The Sydney Morning Herald. pp. 14–16. Retrieved 12 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b Tucker, K. (25 January 1979). "Dire Straits". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  7. ^ Darling, C. (27 January 1979). "Closeup". Billboard.
  8. ^ Hawkins, Ronald (6 January 1979). "On the Tracks". Muncie Evening Press. p. T-10. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  9. ^ "C95 FM Top 950 Classic Hits". Star-Phoenix. 28 March 1991. p. C8. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  10. ^ Marsh, D.; Swenson, J., eds. (1983). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. University of California. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-394-72107-1.
  11. ^ Fruehling, Pam (15 February 1979). "Dire Straits are Compliment to Britain". The Gazette. p. 15A. Retrieved 12 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Cesario, Rock (22 March 2019). "As Debut Records Go, It's a Dire Situation". The Daily Sentinel. p. 20. Retrieved 12 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Snowden, Don (22 July 1979). "Dire Straits in Deja Vu Trap". Los Angeles Times. pp. 64, 66. Retrieved 12 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Bibens, Conrad (13 January 1979). "Dire Straits Mixes Folk, Blues". St. Joseph News-Press/Gazette. p. 10. Retrieved 12 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b Brown, A. & Mansfield, B. (2008). Make Me a Star: Industry Insiders Reveal How to Make It in Music. Thomas Nelson, Inc. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-4016-0404-2.
  16. ^ a b c Jurek, T. "River of Time". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  17. ^ Judd, N. & Schaetzle, B. (1994). Love Can Build a Bridge. Random House. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-449-22274-4.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ Larkin, C. (1998). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music. Indiana University. p. 222. ISBN 978-0-7535-0236-5.
  19. ^ McKenna, Kristine (23 April 1989). "The Judds River of Time". Los Angeles Times. p. 69. Retrieved 12 July 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ DeCurtis, A.; Henke, J.; George-Warren, H., eds. (1992). The Rolling Stone Album Guide (3rd ed.). Random House. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-679-73729-2.
  21. ^ Guest, T. (2005). My Life in Orange. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. pp. 157–158. ISBN 978-0-15-603106-6.
  22. ^ Crane, C. (2006). Stupid and Contagious. Hachette Digital. ISBN 978-0-446-69572-5.
Categories