Private Investigations (song)

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1982 single by Dire Straits

"Private Investigations"

Single by Dire Straits
from the album  Love over Gold
B-side| "Badges, Posters, Stickers, T-Shirts"
Released| 27 August 1982
Recorded| 8 March – 11 June 1982
Genre| Progressive rock
Length| 6:45 (Album version)
5:51 (Single edit)
Label| Vertigo
Songwriter(s)| Mark Knopfler
Producer(s)| Mark Knopfler
Dire Straits singles chronology
| "Romeo and Juliet"
(1981)  | "Private Investigations"
(1982)  | "Industrial Disease"
(1982)

|
|

"Private Investigations" is a song by the British rock band Dire Straits from their album Love over Gold. It reached number 2 in the United Kingdom (despite its length), and is one of their biggest chart successes in the UK. The track has appeared on the compilation albums Money for Nothing and Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, and is the title track to the more recent 2005 compilation, Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler.

The song begins with a deep-pitched synthesizer orchestration (omitted from the 7" single edit), leading into a slow piano progression accompanying a classical guitar, followed by several spoken verses. The single edit removes the opening synthesisers, beginning with acoustic guitar.

After the verses, the song opens into a slow, bass-driven beat, with strident electric guitar chords at the end, before the gradual diminuendo featuring extended interplay between Mark Knopfler's acoustic guitar and marimba played by Mike Mainieri.

On the Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits DVD, Mark Knopfler said this about the song: "It's just about the Private Investigations... "What have you got at the end of the day" – Nothing more than you started out with..." It is said the song was inspired by author Raymond Chandler.[1]

This song was also modified by Mark Knopfler into a score for the Bill Forsyth film Comfort and Joy in 1984, in which portions of the song are used for certain scenes.

It was also used in the video release of the 1984 film Against All Odds during the deleted scenes. A section of the footage cut from the final release dealt with the time spent on the run, in Mexico, by Rachel Ward’s & Jeff Bridges' characters.

The riff from the song was used in France on a Crédit Agricole advert in 1984, and on a BT advert in 1994.

## Charts

[edit]

### Weekly charts

[edit]

| Chart (1982)  | Peak
position

|

Australia (Kent Music Report)[2] | 21
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[3] | 19
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[4] | 1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[5] | 20
France (IFOP)[6] | 4
Ireland (IRMA)[7] | 2
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[8] | 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[9] | 1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[10] | 16
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[11] | 4
UK Singles (OCC)[12] | 2

### Year-end charts

[edit]

| Chart (1982)  | Position

|

Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[13] | 25
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[14] | 6
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[15] | 10

## Certifications

[edit]

Region  | Certification | Certified units/sales

|
|

New Zealand (RMNZ)[16] | Gold  | 15,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[17] | Silver  | 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Happy Birthday Raymond Chandler: Five Songs For the Master of Mystery". houstonpress.com. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
2. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 90\. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
3. ^ "Dire Straits – Private Investigations" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
4. ^ "Dire Straits – Private Investigations" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
5. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava.
6. ^ "InfoDisc : Les Tubes de chaque artiste commençant par D". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
7. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Private Investigations". Irish Singles Chart.
8. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 40, 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
9. ^ "Dire Straits – Private Investigations" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
10. ^ "Dire Straits – Private Investigations". Top 40 Singles.
11. ^ "Dire Straits – Private Investigations". Swiss Singles Chart.
12. ^ "Dire Straits: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
13. ^ "Jaaroverzichten 1982". Ultratop. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
14. ^ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1982". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
15. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1982". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
16. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – Dire Straits – Private Investigations". Radioscope. Retrieved 20 April 2025. Type Private Investigations  in the "Search:" field.
17. ^ "British single certifications – Dire Straits – Private Investigations". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

* v
* t
* e

Dire Straits

* Mark Knopfler
* John Illsley

* Pick Withers
* David Knopfler
* Alan Clark
* Hal Lindes
* Terry Williams
* Guy Fletcher
* Jack Sonni

Studio albums|

* Dire Straits
* Communiqué
* Making Movies
* Love over Gold
* Brothers in Arms
* On Every Street

Live albums|

* Alchemy
* On the Night
* Live at the BBC

Compilations|

* Money for Nothing
* Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits
* Private Investigations: The Best of Dire Straits & Mark Knopfler

EPs|

* ExtendedancEPlay
* Encores

Singles|

* "Sultans of Swing"
* "Water of Love"
* "Lady Writer"
* "Tunnel of Love"
* "Skateaway"
* "Romeo and Juliet"
* "Private Investigations"
* "Industrial Disease"
* "Twisting by the Pool"
* "Love over Gold"
* "So Far Away"
* "Money for Nothing"
* "Brothers in Arms"
* "Walk of Life"
* "Your Latest Trick"
* "Calling Elvis"
* "Heavy Fuel"
* "On Every Street"
* "The Bug"
* "You and Your Friend"

Other songs|

* "Down to the Waterline"
* "Setting Me Up"
* "Expresso Love"
* "Telegraph Road"
* "When It Comes to You"
* "Iron Hand"

Tours|

* Brothers in Arms Tour
* On Every Street Tour

Related articles|

* Discography
* Band members
* Omar Hakim
* Chris White
* The Notting Hillbillies

* Category

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz work

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