The Songs We Will Sing.

#11 Dire Straits: Romeo And Juliet: 1980

You have to love Dire Straits, the British Rock Band with front man, Mark Knopfler. We will visit Dire Straits a few times because they have some really good music, but for today, it being St Valentine’s Day, we need a song about love. I am not recommending that we wait for special days to tell the people in our lives that we love and appreciate them, any day is a good day for that. Nor am I recommending that we need that special someone to be reminded that love is everywhere, we just have to open our eyes to it.

Years ago, in another lifetime it seems, I was a single mum. Struggling, juggling and just thanking God that day by day He supported me and provided what was needed. I had been dealt a deeply hurtful blow in love, but I recall someone remarking to me how obvious it was that I was surrounded by love when she observed how my children and I all interacted with each other. My point is that love is found well and alive in all sorts of situations and we can waste a lot of time and energy thinking that it should/could only come from a particular source.

Romeo and Juliet is the story of young, star-crossed lovers whose time was just wrong and despite their love they could not escape a tragic ending. Life is often a bit like that. It is said Knopfler wrote the song following a similar experience.

If you were to stop anyone in the street and ask them what they knew about Shakespeare, many people could connect Romeo and Juliet with Shakespeare. It is the play most often studied when year 10 English students do a Shakespearean unit. And the thing that keeps us studying Shakespeare is that his themes are timeless; they expose the passions and fears of humanity which really don’t change even as the centuries pass.

There are lots of inter textual works which have come out of Romeo and Juliet; the many versions of Shakespeare’s stage plays and films, West Side Story and songs; Dire Straits Romeo and Juliet is but one. I hope you enjoy it.

Dire Straits – Romeo and Juliet (1980) – YouTube

Happy St. V’s Day to my darling hubby who has brought so much love into my life and to my wonderful adult offspring and your loves. You make my heart full.