Hello all,

As a task for our unit of Romeo and Juliet, we will be selecting a specific song that students feel directly apply to each Act within the play. As a precursor to this task, I have been selecting songs for (almost) every scene in the play. This was, despite what I first thought, not an easy task. Students will be putting their choices on this blog and explaining how each song connects to the Act.

Here are some of my own choices:

Act 1, Scene 1: ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ by U2. I feel this song mirrors the problems in Northern Ireland to which the song is about. The feud and violence between the Montagues and Capulets, resulting in a civil brawl, the third in recent times is closely linked to the real world issues. The brawl also occurs on a Sunday. The first line from the song “I can’t believe the news today.” mirrors the Prince’s exasperation at another fight between the houses.

Act 1, Scene 2: ‘Somebody to Love’ by Queen. Romeo is pining for Rosaline and needs to be love. Benvolio talks about finding a new woman to love. I think this song fits.

Ac 2, Scene 2: ‘Here comes the Sun’ by the Beatles. This is the Balcony Scene. I believe this song fits because it refers to the coming of the sun making everything “alright” and when Juliet comes outside, everything becomes wonderful for Romeo. Romeo also refers to Juliet as “the sun”. The mood of the song is also happy and bright and signals the growing new love between the two characters.

Act 3, Scene 1: ‘Times, they are a changin’ by Bob Dylan. I believe this song outlines the changing nature of the play at this scene. Love seems to be conquering all at the end of Act 2, but in this scene, we have the death of Mercutio and Tybalt and the banishment of Romeo. Times are changing for the characters.

Act 3, Scene 2: ‘Let’s stay together’ by Al Green. This song fits this scene because after finding out that Romeo murdered Tybalt, Juliet struggles with her feelings about him, but in the end, decides to stick with him despite all the problems. Al Green states “I’m so in love with you, whatever you want to do, is alright with me.” I feel this fits well with Juliet’s feelings about Romeo.

Act 4: ‘I will wait for you’ by Mumford and sons. I feel this song represents Juliet’s feelings about waiting for Romeo. She has no intention of marrying Paris and will do anything to avoid it. She will wait in a pseudo-death for Romeo to come and collect her.

Act 5, Scene 1: ‘I will follow you into the dark’ by Death Cab for Cutie. Perfectly represents Romeo’s plan upon learning that Juliet is dead. Romeo will follow her into death that, evidenced by stating that he will “lie with thee tonight”. The song states that “if there’s no one besides you when your soul departs, then I will follow you into the dark.” This fits in with the fact that Juliet was alone and Romeo felt he needed to be beside her in death.

Act 5, scene 3:’ Last Goodbye’ by Jeff Buckley. I’ve saved the best for last here. Romeo and Juliet share their last goodbye and their love is over upon their deaths. Buckley states that he “hates to feel the love between us die, but it’s over, I’ll just do this and then I’ll go.” “This” can be explained as Romeo taking the poison or Juliet stabbing herself. Buckley also states that “this is our last embrace, must I dream and always see your face? Why can’t we overcome this war?” and this fits in nicely with the war between the two houses and the two lovers not being able to overcome that war to be together.

Anyway, these are the songs I have played for my students (with a number of omissions too). I hope you enjoy their choices and comment on their work.