What does Romeo and Juliet mean?

Dire Straits: Romeo and Juliet Meaning

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Album cover for Romeo and Juliet album cover

Song Released: 1981


Romeo and Juliet Lyrics

A lovestruck Romeo sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low with a lovesong 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...

  1. anonymous
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    Apr 29th 2021 !⃝

    This song was inspired by a underatted joke of a story. In the end, they die, or they kill each other.

  2. anonymous
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    Apr 23rd 2021 !⃝

    This song is a poignant and beautiful plea to a woman to not throw away a great love. Poetically retelling their story from beginning to end, a man begs his ex to not lose sight of what they once were. While he feels their love was epic on the level of Shakespeare’s classic, it was also just as star-crossed due to timing but also due to the woman’s ambition and dismissal.
    In a literal interpretation, the man is a singer (“sing the streets a serenade”, “all i do is kiss you, through the bars of a rhyme”), and the woman appears to be in the entertainment industry (“how can you look at me as if I was just another one of your deals”, “Oh Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him”). She is portrayed as a user and somewhat shallow or immature (“Hey La, My boyfriend’s back!”).
    When he says “I dreamed your dream for you, and now your dream is real,” it indicates that while with him and with his support and wish for her success, she ultimately succeeded but was seduced by fame, fortune and beauty (“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), which ultimately broke them apart. While reminiscent in theme of “Stepping Stone” by Paul Revere and the Raiders, this song is not as angtsy/angry/vengeful.
    It is more raw hurt and disbelief that the woman could abandon a once in centuries love to which, at one time, they were both fully committed. In his heart, he still believes there is a chance and he’s begging her to see it.

  3. anonymous
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    Feb 1st 2019 !⃝

    This song is about a couple who are in love, but they break up because "The time wasn't right." It's a sad sentiment, as the guy will always love the girl.

  4. anonymous
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    Mar 1st 2014 !⃝

    I think this song is first of all about a hard break up, barely accepted by 'Romeo', who's really desperate and who tries to remind to 'Juliet' how strong their love was, even if he knows (he just doesn't want it to be true) that she doesn't love him anymore, and that she might never have.


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