Romeo Had Juliette

Lou Reed

Lou Reed - Romeo Had Juliette



Caught between the twisted stars

the plotted lines the faulty map

that brought Columbus to New York

Betwixt between the East and West

he calls on her wearing a leather vest

the earth squeals and shudders to a halt

A diamond crucifix in his ear

is used to help ward off the fear

that he has left his soul in someone's rented car

Inside his pants he hides a mop

to clean the mess that he has dropped

into the life of lithesome Juliette Bell



And Romeo wanted Juliette

and Juliette wanted Romeo

And Romeo wanted Juliette

and Juliette wanted Romeo



Romeo Rodriguez squares

his shoulders and curses Jesus

runs a comb through his black pony-tail

He's thinking of his lonely room

the sink that by his bed gives off a stink

then smells her perfume in his eyes

And her voice was like a bell



Outside the street were steaming the crack

dealers were dreaming

of an Uzi someone had just scored

I betcha I could hit that light

with my one good arm behind my back

says little Joey Diaz

Brother give me another tote

those downtown hoods are no damn good

those Italians need a lesson to be taught

This cop who died in Harlem

you think they'd get the warnin'

I was dancing when his brains run out on the street



And Romeo had Juliette

and Juliette had her Romeo

And Romeo had Juliette

and Juliette had her Romeo



I'll take Manhattan in a garbage bag

with Latin written on it that says

"it's hard to give a shit these days"

Manhattan's sinking like a rock

into the filthy Hudson what a shock

they wrote a book about it

they said it was like ancient Rome



The perfume burned his eyes

holding tightly to her thighs

And something flickered for a minute

and then it vanished and was gone