A lovestruck Romeo sang the streets a 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 'til 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 talks 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'll 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, the 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 'til 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 a serenade
Laying everybody low with a love song that he made
Find 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?"


Lyrics submitted by anieloo, edited by PSKITTY, queenhylia, EulaliaVox, goldentrio15, Bedelguese5, TawdryD

Romeo and Juliet Lyrics as written by Mark Knopfler

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Romeo And Juliet song meanings
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  • +18
    General Comment

    I'd hate to burst all of your bubbles but none of you understand this song. It's actually about a relationship that starts out just the opposite of the classic Romeo and Juliet story. The two are both poor and there is nothing forbidden about their relationship. The two share a dream of one day becoming socially elite. However, "Juliet" achieves this dream and abandons "Romeo." Romeo is trying to get back with Juliet but she is now too good for him and rejects him. ("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 shoudn't come around here singing up at people like that .") The line about "it was just that the time was wrong" means that they'd still be together if she wouldn't have acquired her fourtune at that time, or even at all. Kinda think of it like this: the first verse depicts the present, the second gives background information on the relationship and the third verse goes back to the present. "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 dream your dream for you and now your dream is real / How can you look at me as I was just another one of your deals?" means that at one time they were both poor and he wanted the best for her more than he wanted the best for himself and when her dreams came true she left the man who helped her get there behind on the "streets of shame" and doesn't make his dreams come true as well. It's actually a little pathetic on Romeo's part because he is so in love with someone who didn't really love him, only used him until she didn't need him anymore. Just remember that Mark Knopfler never really wrote songs to convey emotions but he was more of a story teller. And while most of his songs carry a lot of emotion, you need to look into the lyrics to understand the song. Dire Straits is like a cross between Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd: long, artsy, technically efficient songs with kick-ass guitar solos mixed with folkish ballads about every day situations sung w/ rusty vocals conveying gruff emotions. Or something like that. Put these on your "to download" list, especially if you like this song: "Telegraph Road", "Sultans Of Swing", "Lions", "Tunnel Of Love", "Love Over Gold" and "News".

    ZinbobDanon October 13, 2002   Link
  • +11
    General Comment

    First song I fell in love to, it was our song. Ironically she did do this for me, and fell for the promises someone else offered. 25 years later it still hurts.

    LastHussaron December 31, 2011   Link
  • +7
    General Comment

    This song is probably my favorite song ever-i think its about a guy and a girl being in love but they break up because "the time wasn't right". It's a really sad song cause the guy will always love the girl.

    egut521on May 12, 2002   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    Got to agree with lizzie on this one. This is Romeo and Juliet after they grew up and realized that the world is a lot bigger than Verona. For Juliet it was just obsession, but Romeo, not so much, and now while she's out doing her own thing and hardly even remembers what they had, he's slumming the streets, looking back at the balcony and humming to himself, wishing they were kids again, wondering how he could've done things better. Sad how often that happens in real life, isn't it?

    CodyCodyon February 05, 2011   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    This song is a cynical look at the love story of Romeo and Juliet had they never died. Two young lovers and one leaves the other behind.

    Beyond that I think it is about the confusion one feels when going from being treated like a person's greatest love to being an annoyance and a stranger. For Romeo it feels like a betrayal, because in an intense love people can make promises to each other that they don't understand they can't keep. "You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin" "You said I love you like the stars above, I'll love you till I die" Now that its over, and she's moved on, Romeo is contrasting what she said then to how she acts now.

    This is a great song because so many can relate to it, its sort of weird to be the center of someone's world and then discarded like garbage later on. At the same time its an interesting take on Shakespeare. Is Romeo and Juliet a tragedy because we wanted to see them together and they died, or was it a tragedy because two young lovers foolishly let their first love get the best of them? I mean, does the intensity of a relationship really determine its value? Anyone who can relate to this song could probably question the capacity of either Romeo or Juliet to really hold up the intense relationship they were developing in the story.

    Renneton February 28, 2011   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    The thing that struck me about this song was the line, "You promised me everything, you promised me thick and thin, and now you just say O Romeo, you know I used to have a scene with him" In the sense the of the play, without Romeo, Juliet would've been nothing. I would apply this to a relationship in which the guy was a big help to the girl, getting her to come out of a shell, making her veyr happy, helping her out of a bad situation. Then in the end, once the girl is OK, she abandons the guy and downplays his importance. "Yeah, I used to have a scene with him" A single scene as opposed to the truth of him being her entire play, or life.

    Also, "All I do is kiss you through these bars and this ryhme" As in the bars of written music...I think this ia great line, because the only way this Romeo can express his feelings is in song.

    BoSox3054on March 21, 2003   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    I always thought this song was written as if Romeo and Juliet had survived, sort of a cynical song about how misguided the optimism and passion of youth is. Like, if they HAD survived, Juliet would have gotten bored with Romeo anyway.

    lizzierobboon January 26, 2011   Link
  • +4
    Memory

    I can't say how much this song means to me. It's the song of the best friend I ever had and me, my Juliet and me. In every second I miss her I hear this song in my head.

    ramblingponyon June 09, 2012   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    DPS 3/25/73 CDE 11/10/82

    This song is about star crossed soul mates. Ten years apart when they should have went for it, first, and then again. She promised him everything. It came to pass and did not happen not only first; but then again. Romeo knows that they belong together. Karmic or star crossed fate would have it that their souls met and connected as one but it could never be. He was willing and able, and helplessly in love. She chose things of silver and gold rather than true love. Again; it was always failure in fate (the dice was loaded from the start). He stepped out of the shade at first and when he said 'how about it' he won her. He had her, for that moment in time. But when that other guy came back - she could never really ditch him for what was real - someone who loved her with his entire heart, truly at the soul level. Had a few elements ("it was just that the time was wrong") she would have never chosen this person of riches and opulence who could only win her in that way. She would have chosen the person who understood her at her core. She promised him everything - through thick and thin - probably even said she would love him like no one else ever has. She probably meant it. But with all the pair had they couldn't see what waited down the path.

    He took a chance on her (and I bet).. and his heart exploded. They grew up on different streets the same way. They are one, he is her, she is him. He saw the light in her ("I dream your dream for you, and now your dream is real") he saw her like no one else in the world could.

    And yet she treated him in the end like another business transaction. When she looks back someday and sees him somewhere... she will only be able to say she had a brief fleeting moment with romeo, a scene with him.

    Their connection was so good when they made love she would cry. He was truly going to love her until he died.

    His heart still holds on, like a true romeo does. He tries to explain as long as they're both breathing, there's a place for them (he's pleading with her to see it). Just that a few factors were off enough to offset this soulmate, once in a lifetime connection.

    In the last slow bit of the song.. he's admitting he still loves her. Through all the bs, he would still do the stars with her anytime. He would still roll the dice and go for it.

    There's a place for us....... one last time as her name trails off. Does she hear him or not? He doesn't know. He may never know.

    And in the very last stanza, he reveals the truth slowly. He's still under that streetlight alone with her in his heart. Steps out of the shade under the stars... and once again he slowly admits that he still would give it a go. He really loved her.

    Stories like this happen every day. I know, because this was a song about us.

    The_natural31on March 15, 2019   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    nice song, only just realised it tells the story of my situation!the time wasnt right for us either...if only we'd met in a few years.... great song though!

    turtonhoton June 06, 2002   Link

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