Romeo and Juliet (song)

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"Romeo and Juliet"

Single by Dire Straits
from the album Making Movies
Released	1981
Genre	Rock
Length	05:54
Label	Vertigo
Writer(s)	Mark Knopfler
Chart positions
#8 (UK Singles Chart)
Dire Straits singles chronology
"Lady Writer" (1979)	"Romeo and Juliet" (1981)	"Skateaway" (1982)

"Romeo and Juliet" was a single by the British rock band Dire Straits. It appeared on their album Making Movies and subsequently appeared on the live albums Alchemy and On the Night. The song was written by Dire Straits' leader, 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.

The lyrics of the song comprise a description of a conversation between the two lovers of the title. In addition to the obvious reference to William Shakespeare's play of the same title, the song makes playful allusion to other works involving young love, including the songs "My Boyfriend's Back" and "Somewhere" from West Side Story.

This song was inspired by Mark Knopfler's 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.

The line "Now you just say, oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him," came from an interview where Holly Vincent was quoted as saying, "What happened was that I had a scene with Mark Knopfler and it got to the point where he couldn't handle it and we split up."

[edit] Cover versions

In 1992, the Indigo Girls remade the song for their album Rites of Passage, and in 2006, Matt Nathanson included it on his live album At the Point.

The song was also covered by The Killers for the Channel 4 programme Live from Abbey Road [1].