Tuesday November 24, 2020 “Romeo & Juliet” Dire Straits

It just wouldn’t be a Romeo & Juliet week without this amazing Dire Straits song.

Written by Mark Knopfler, this song was supposedly inspired by a broken romance with Holly Vincent, who was the leader of the band Holly and The Italians. Some of the lyrics indicate that Knopfler felt she used him to boost her career, which apparently didn’t work out for the still unknown Holly and the Italians

In a review of Dire Straits' album/CD Brothers in Arms in 1985, Spin commented: "Mark Knopfler may be the most lyrical of all rock guitarists."  According to British magazine Classic Rock in 2018: "The bare-boned economy of Knopfler's songs and his dizzying guitar fills were a breath of clean air amid the lumbering rock dinosaurs and one-dimensional punk thrashers of the late 70s.”

Knopfler is left-handed, but plays the guitar right-handed which actually seems like a logical decision considering the dominant use for fretting and chords required in playing the instrument.

The song remains one of the very memorable musical and enjoyable versions of the Shakespeare play.

Stay safe and well...and I imagine that if Shakespeare was alive to hear this well written version he would have enthusiastically approved of it.

A lovestruck Romeo sang the streets of serenade

Laying everybody low with a love song that he made

Finds a streetlight, steps out of the shade

Says something like, "You and me, babe, how about it?"

Juliet says, "Hey, it's Romeo, you nearly gave me 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, I forget the movie song

When you gonna realize 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, yeah

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, I'll love you till I die'

There's a place for us, you know the movie song

When you gonna realize 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 with you

And all I do is miss you and the way we used to be

All I do is keep the 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'

There's a place for us you know the movie song

When you gonna realize it was just that the time was wrong, Juliet?"

And a lovestruck Romeo, he sang the streets of serenade

Laying everybody low with a love song that he made

Finds a convenient streetlight, steps out of the shade

He says something like, "You and me, babe, how about it?

You and me, babe, how about it?"