"Twisting by the Pool" is a song by British rock band

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

that appears on '' ExtendedancEPlay''. It was released as a single in 1983, peaking at No. 1 in New Zealand, No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart and at No. 12 on the US ''

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'' Rock Top Tracks chart.

Composition

According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by

Universal Music Publishing Group Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quart ...

, the song is set in the

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

of common time, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 182

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. It is composed in the key of

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

with Knopfler's vocal range spanning from A₂ to E₄. The song has a basic sequence of A–D–E as its

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...

Critical reception

William Ruhlmann of

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retrospectively praised the song, calling it "the closest thing to exuberant rock & roll this seemingly humorless band had ever attempted."

Live performances

The song was performed live as early as 1979 and is featured on the Live at the Rainbow concert recorded in London, December 1979 and released in 2024 as part of the Dire Straits Live 1978-1992 box set.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1983 singles 1983 songs Dire Straits songs Number-one singles in New Zealand Songs written by Mark Knopfler Songs about dancing Twist (dance) Vertigo Records singles