Romeo and Juliet

Written after Knopfler's breakup with Holly Beth Vincent of Holly and the Italians, it tells of a Juliet who leaves her Romeo once she finds fame, with nods to Shakespeare, to Somewhere from West Side Story and to the Angels' My Boyfriend's Back. Vincent has said Knopfler reached a point where he could not handle their relationship and they split. Ed Bicknell said that the first time he heard it he sat staring at the ground in disbelief.

It was recorded at the Power Station in the summer of 1980. The opening arpeggios are played on a National Style O, found while Knopfler was experimenting in open G tuning, and Bittan's piano borrows a lick from his part on Bruce Springsteen's Jungleland. Released as a British single in January 1981 with Solid Rock on the B-side, it reached eight in the UK and five in Ireland. Ultimate Classic Rock and Classic Rock have both placed it among the band's four best songs, and Brandon Flowers called it one of the finest songs ever.

Live

First played at Portland State University on 24 October 1980, a week after the album came out, it became the band's second most played song, 394 times through to Zaragoza in 1992. Knopfler has played it 670 times on his own. The Killers recorded it at Abbey Road and put it on Sawdust (2007), and the Indigo Girls covered it on Rites of Passage (1992). The upload in the hypersongs web is the official video, directed by Lester Bookbinder, who also filmed Skateaway and Tunnel of Love.