Lyrics to
Down To The Waterline

This version of Down To The Waterline was released by Dire Straits in 1978.

Our About Dire Straits page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for Down To The Waterline from 1978 as well as all of the other lyrics from Dire Straits that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Dire Straits or about the 1970s in general.

Sweet surrender on the quayside
You remember we used to run and hide
In the shadow of the cargoes I take you one at a time
And we’re counting all the numbers down to the waterline

Near misses on the dogleap stairways
French kisses in the darkened doorways
A foghorn blowing out wild and cold
A policeman shines a light upon my shoulder

Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night
Over my shoulder all you can see are the pilot lights
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm

She can see him on the jetty where they used to go
She can feel him in the places where the sailors go
When she’s walking by the river and the railway line
She can still hear him whisper
Let’s go down to the waterline

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Dire Straits has released many songs over the years besides Down To The Waterline. Dire Straits released songs from 1978 to 1991 spanning across albums like Dire Straits, Communique, Making Movies, Love Over Gold, ExtendedancEPlay, Brothers In Arms, and On Every Street. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Dire Straits.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1978 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Down To The Waterline by Dire Straits

The lyrics for Down To The Waterline are defined as the words making up the song released by Dire Straits in 1978. It also includes the verses and words used by the background chorus in the song. Like many hit songs, the lyrics to Down To The Waterline have different meanings to different people. While it is clear in some of the lyrics what the artist is trying to really say, only Dire Straits and those working with them know all of the meanings behind all of the lyrics to their songs.

Some folks are interested in word and phrase etymology. It is easy to understand the lyrics to Down To The Waterline by Dire Straits if you think through it. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Down To The Waterline" means the words set to the music of Down To The Waterline, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Dire Straits. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Down To The Waterline and the lyrics to Down To The Waterline are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Dire Straits who came here looking just for the lyrics to Down To The Waterline, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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