Songbook #7: Romeo & Juliet
And a lovestruck Romeo he sings the streets a serenade
Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made
Find a convenient streetlight, steps out of the shade
And says something like, "You and me babe, how 'bout it?"
Dire Straits
Romeo & Juliet
My first semester of my freshman year of college I pledged the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity, which is very easily the single best decision I made in my five years of college. To this day almost all of my closest male friends are fraternity brothers, and I have several more friends who I know because I tried to get them to join the fraternity. On a more practical level I learned more lessons, and more useful lessons, about dealing with people and leadership while I was in the fraternity than I did in any class. Without the fraternity I would not have joined the radio station where I've spent the last 14 years; 2 PhiKaps were on staff at the time and I trained with one of them. The job I've had for the last decade was one I got largely through the intercession of a fraternity brother, as were several of my student jobs. It's also quite probable that without the members of my fraternity to kick my ass into shape that I would not have graduated.
In short, nearly every aspect of my life was positively impacted by my time as an active member of Phi Kappa Theta. For this, I have my freshman year roommate to thank. Yes, K-Rob, the same roommate who drove me nuts, dragged me to a rush party over Labor Day weekend. It was the only rush event I went to, and I'm still surprised I got a bid. Certainly joining a fraternity had never even crossed my mind, but I did, and the rest is history. However, I may not have gone to that event at all except that Phil showed up at our room to pick up Kevin, and convinced me to come along as well.
Phil was a music education major, the first of more than a dozen music ed majors who would walk through the doors of the PhiKap house in my time there. He is an extremely talented bassist and guitarist, and during my freshman year he frequently carried a guitar around with him. The song he played most often was Romeo & Juliet, which I vaguely knew as an Indigo Girls song, but which was done originally (and better) by Dire Straits. The song talks about a relationship that has ended, which for most of my freshman year was all I could think about, thanks to the girl in the shotgun seat and my own immaturity. This was definitely to my mental detriment, but the PhiKaps gave me something else to think about and I eventually got over it.
In any event, the lyrics to Romeo & Juliet quickly embedded themselves in my mind, and they've never quite left. I ended up buying the Dire Straits live album On the Night just because of the superlative version of that song it contains. Phil ended up as my big brother in the fraternity, and he turned me on to a lot of great music throughout college. He lives in Texas now, and although we don't see each other too often and are both pretty terrible at phones, I still consider him one of my dearest friends. Love you big.
Tracklist
#1 - Welcome to the Jungle
#2 - Runnin' Blue
#3 - Cryin'
#4 - Mr. Jones
#5 - Blinded by the Light
#6 - Piano Man
#7 - Romeo & Juliet
Laying everybody low, with a love song that he made
Find a convenient streetlight, steps out of the shade
And says something like, "You and me babe, how 'bout it?"
Dire Straits
Romeo & Juliet
My first semester of my freshman year of college I pledged the Ohio Alpha Beta chapter of Phi Kappa Theta fraternity, which is very easily the single best decision I made in my five years of college. To this day almost all of my closest male friends are fraternity brothers, and I have several more friends who I know because I tried to get them to join the fraternity. On a more practical level I learned more lessons, and more useful lessons, about dealing with people and leadership while I was in the fraternity than I did in any class. Without the fraternity I would not have joined the radio station where I've spent the last 14 years; 2 PhiKaps were on staff at the time and I trained with one of them. The job I've had for the last decade was one I got largely through the intercession of a fraternity brother, as were several of my student jobs. It's also quite probable that without the members of my fraternity to kick my ass into shape that I would not have graduated.
In short, nearly every aspect of my life was positively impacted by my time as an active member of Phi Kappa Theta. For this, I have my freshman year roommate to thank. Yes, K-Rob, the same roommate who drove me nuts, dragged me to a rush party over Labor Day weekend. It was the only rush event I went to, and I'm still surprised I got a bid. Certainly joining a fraternity had never even crossed my mind, but I did, and the rest is history. However, I may not have gone to that event at all except that Phil showed up at our room to pick up Kevin, and convinced me to come along as well.
Phil was a music education major, the first of more than a dozen music ed majors who would walk through the doors of the PhiKap house in my time there. He is an extremely talented bassist and guitarist, and during my freshman year he frequently carried a guitar around with him. The song he played most often was Romeo & Juliet, which I vaguely knew as an Indigo Girls song, but which was done originally (and better) by Dire Straits. The song talks about a relationship that has ended, which for most of my freshman year was all I could think about, thanks to the girl in the shotgun seat and my own immaturity. This was definitely to my mental detriment, but the PhiKaps gave me something else to think about and I eventually got over it.
In any event, the lyrics to Romeo & Juliet quickly embedded themselves in my mind, and they've never quite left. I ended up buying the Dire Straits live album On the Night just because of the superlative version of that song it contains. Phil ended up as my big brother in the fraternity, and he turned me on to a lot of great music throughout college. He lives in Texas now, and although we don't see each other too often and are both pretty terrible at phones, I still consider him one of my dearest friends. Love you big.
Tracklist
#1 - Welcome to the Jungle
#2 - Runnin' Blue
#3 - Cryin'
#4 - Mr. Jones
#5 - Blinded by the Light
#6 - Piano Man
#7 - Romeo & Juliet