It was Better When Romeo Said It

July 2006

Another song about Romeo, sort of. But hey, I feel literary lately. I’m proud of this one. I was able to break out of my normal patterns a lot. Credit goes to the Mountain Goats, as the lyric pattern feels a lot like some of their/his songs, and John Darnielle provide the mental vocals originally. I’ve tightened the rhyme scheme slightly and adjusted things to my voice, but the stress at the line endings, the free-flowing structure, I’m still very happy to have borrowed. anyway, I like it. It’s a love song with a tangent about witches.

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I told you, you were like the sun
But it was better when Romeo said it
He said it with conviction, like a fool
People were foolish in those days
When time was short and the hours were long
If you had nothing to go by
So they believed strange things
That the world was flat
And mice grew from old cheese
And witches always had black cats
Or white ones depending on who you believe

And Romeo he believed in Juliet
And Juliet she believed when Romeo said
She was bright and warm and beautiful
And kept the world from growing dark and cold
But of course they didn’t know
The whole world turned around her

People were foolish in those days
They saw meaning in every flock of birds
That circled in the sky
And every star that fell, fell for someone
And I only see meaning in subtle curves
And the circles in your eyes
And every time I fell, I fell for someone
Someone shining as the sun

But people are foolish in these days