“Romeo and Juliet” is a 6 minute song by the British rock band Dire Straits, recorded in 1980 and released as a single in 1981. It first appeared on the album Making Movies and then on the live albums Alchemy and On the Night. The song was written by Dire Straits singer and lead guitarist Mark Knopfler. The song opens on an arpeggiated resonator guitar part played by Knopfler, who also sings the lead vocal. The instrumentation remains simple during the verses and moves to a full-on rock arrangement in the chorus sections(source: Wikipedia).
The genius of the song lies in the conversation between the two lovers of the title. It is hinting at a "Juliet" abandoning her "Romeo" (the song's narrator) after finding fame and moving on from the rough neighborhood where they first encountered each other. The way in which Knopfler words his emotions is very rare in music - in my opinion, no other cover (by The Killers or the Indigo Girls) can stay up to the Dire Straits original .
In addition to the obvious reference to William Shakespeare’s play of the same title, the song makes playful allusions to other works involving young love, including the songs “My Boyfriend’s Back” and “Somewhere” (There is a place for us somewhere) from West Side Story (which is itself based on the Shakespeare play). This song was inspired by Mark Knopfler’s broken romance with Holly Vincent, leader of the band Holly and the Italians.
There is a moment in the life of everyone who leaves home to go study in another country like the one in this story. No matter who leaves, be it Juliet or Romeo, it is very hard to get over it or to recover the moments past. Time flows forward all the time. Some continue long-distance, some break it off then and there. I am still left wondering, "Me and you, babe, how about it?".
A lovestruck romeo sing a streetsuss serenade
Laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
Finds a convenient street light steps out of the shade
Says something like you and me babe how about it?
Juliet says hey it's romeo you nearly gimme a heart attack
He's underneath the window she's singing hey la my boyfriend's back
You shouldn't come around here singing up at people like that
Anyway what you gonna do about it?
Juliet the dice was loaded from the start
And I bet and you exploded into my heart
And I forget the movie song
When you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong juliet?
Come up on different streets they both were streets of shame
Both dirty both mean yes and the dream was just the same
And I dreamed your dream for you and now your dream is real
How can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals?
When you can fall for chains of silver you can fall for chains of gold
You can fall for pretty strangers and the promises they hold
You promised me everything you promised me thick and thin
Now you just say oh romeo yeah you know I used to have a scene with him
Juliet when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above and I love you till I die
There's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong juliet?
I can't do the talk like they talk on the TV
And I can't do a love song like the way it's meant to be
I can't do everything but I'd do anything for you
I can't do anything except be in love you
And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be
And all I do is keep th beat and bad company
All I do is kiss you through the bars of a rhyme
Julie I'd do the stars with you any time
Juliet when we made love you used to cry
You said I love you like the stars above I'll love you till I die
And there's a place for us you know the movie song
When you gonna realise it was just that the time was wrong juliet?
A lovestruck romeo sings a streetsuss serenade
Laying everybody low with a lovesong that he made
finds a convenient streetlight steps out of the shade
Says something like you and me babe how about it?
No comments:
Post a Comment