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This ‘mockney’ love song was the third chart-entry for Dire Straits back in 1981. It achieved the same chart position of number 8 as their first hit Sultans Of Swing had done.

Mark Knopfler Song facts

Composer
Mark Knopfler

Genre
Rock

Album
Making Movies

Year of Release
1980

UK Chart Position
8 However it was only after this romantic ode that Dire Straits found themselves with a large fan-base and mainstream success.
Lead singer Mark Knopfler once said “bliss for me is where the Tyne meets the Mississippi delta” and Romeo and Juliet came someway to realising that.
Knopfler talks rather than sings parts of this acoustic track plus his blues and country influences are evident in the ballad form that this tale of everyday British life takes.
Taken from the 1980 Dire Straits album Making Movies it can still be found in song polls today. It ranked number 36 in Radio 2’s recent Top 50 songs and did even better in the Daily Mail’s All-time Top 200 ranking 27th.

Hear Mark Knopfler talk about songwriting

Mark Knopfler

The Dire Straits songwriter talks about how he composes his songs - "I sit on a sofa and I have a notebook and a guitar..."
 
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Listen to Stuart Moffat

  Hear Stuart Moffat sing a cover version of Romeo and Juliet. 

How can anyone who has loved and lost not be moved by these lyrics? Amazing.
Sue via email
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