====================
"Romeo Had Juliette"
====================
album _New York_
(Lou Reed, 1989)
written by Lou Reed
====================
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
intro {A}{E}{D}{D}
{A}{E}{D}{D}
{A}{E}{D}{D} (Caught between the twisted stars ...)
{A}{E}{D}{D} (Betwixt between the East and West ...)
{A}{E}{D}{D} (A diamond crucifix in his ear is ...)
{A}{E}{D}{D} (Inside his pants he hides a mop ...)
{A}{E}{D}{D} (- Romeo wanted Juliette and Juliette ...)
{A}{E}{D}{D} (- Romeo wanted Juliette and Juliette ...)
....
* intro (left channel: Lou)
{A} {E}
1e -----------------------------------
2B --------------------0---x-0-2-0-x--
3G --2---x-2-----2-x---1---x-1-1-1-x--
4D --2---x-2-2h4-2-x---2---x-2-2-2-x--
5A --0---x-0-0---0-x---2---x-2-2-2-x--
6E --------------------0---x-0-0-0-x--
{D} {D}
----------------------------------
--3---x-3-3---3-x--3--------------
--2---x-2-2---2-x--2--------------
--0---x-0-0h4-0-x--0--------------
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
{A} {E}
----------------------0-x-x-2-0-x--
----------------------0-x-x-0-0-x--
--2---x-2---2-x-------1-x-x-1-1-x--
--2---x-2-4-2-x---2---2-x-x-2-2-x--
--0---x-0-0-0-x---2----------------
------------------0----------------
{D} {D}
----------------------------------------
--3---x-3-3---3-----3---x-3-------------
--2---x-2-2---2-----2---x-2-2h4p2-------
--0---x-0-0h4-0-4-x-0---x-0-------4p-2--
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------
* short solo (left channel: Lou)
- voice was like a bell
{A} {E}
1e ------------------------------------------
2B --10--10--10\7-5-------------7------------
3G -----------------7--5v---------5v---------
4D -----------------------7-5h7------7-7-7---
5A ------------------------------------------
6E ------------------------------------------
{D} {D}
------------------------------------------
--------3---3--x-3-x-3---3------------3/--
--------2-4-2--x-2-x-2---2----------------
--7\4-x-0-0-0--x-0-x-0-4-0----------------
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
{A} {E}
----------------------------------------------
--/10--10--10-10\7-5--------------------------
---------------------7--5h7-7-5--------7-5----
--------------------------------7--5h7-----7--
----------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------
{D} {D}
------------------------------------------
-------3-x-3-x-x--3---3--3---3------------
-------2-x-2-x-x--2---2--2---2------------
--7\-x-0-x-0-x-x--0h4-0--0h4-0------------
------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------
*** please note ***
h - hammer on
p - pull off
b - bend string up
r - release bend
/ - slide up
\ - slide down
v - vibrato
^ - harmonics
* other notes Lou use:
chord A part
0 1 2 3 4 5
1e -o-||---|-o-|---|---|---|- ...
2B -o-||---|-o-|---|---|---|- ...
3G ---||---|-o-|---|-o-|---|- ...
4D ---||---|-o-|---|-o-|---|- ...
5A -o-||---|---|---|-o-|---|- ...
6E ---||---|---|---|---|---|- ...
chord E part
0 1 2 3 4 5
1e -o-||---|-o-|---|-o-|---|- ...
2B -o-||---|-o-|---|---|---|- ...
3G ---||-o-|---|---|-o-|---|- ...
4D ---||---|-o-|---|---|---|- ...
5A ---||---|-o-|---|---|---|- ...
6E -o-||---|---|---|---|---|- ...
chord D part
0 1 2 3 4 5
1e ---||---|-o-|-o-|---|-o-|- ...
2B ---||---|---|-o-|---|---|- ...
3G ---||---|-o-|---|-o-|---|- ...
4D -o-||---|---|---|-o-|---|- ...
5A ---||---|---|---|---|---|- ...
6E ---||---|---|---|---|---|- ...
*********************************************************************
---------------------------------------------------------------------
thanks: Tim (Tim@snsys.com)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's some riffs from Lou Reed's distinguished career
that aren't yet on your cool web site. I hope you enjoy them.
ROMEO HAD JULIETTE
For most of the song he plays riffs
based on the open A, E and D chords.
I think these are mostly improvised,
but the following 2 patterns recur lots of times:
A E D D
e------------------0----2------2--2-
B-2--------2--0------0--3---------3-
G-2--2--4-----1-1-------2--0h2----2-
D-2-----------2---------------------
A-----------------------------------
E-----------------------------------
A E D D
e-------------------0---2------2--2-
B-2--2---2----0--0---0--3---------3-
G-2-2-2-4-2---1-1-1-----2--0h2--2-2-
D-2-----------2---------------------
A-----------------------------------
E-----------------------------------
Exactly how to play these riffs
depends on how much distortion you are using.
If playing clean, play the full E, A and D chords,
if using lots of distortion play only 3 strings as shown in the tab.
To sound like the record use some distortion, but not too much.
Several other riffs happen in the spaces between the lyrics.
I think this is like one of them:
e-5h7-7-7-7-7-5-----------------5-------5-
B---------------5-7-7-7-7-7-5---7-----7-7-
G-----------------------------5-7-5h7---7-
D-------------------------------7-------7-
A-------------------------------5-------5-
E-----------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
*********************************************************************
transcribed by Shiroh KOUCHI (wildside@mtci.ne.jp)
http://w3.mtci.ne.jp/~wildside/lou_reed/index.html
*********************************************************************
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The above is solely MY INTERPRETATION of this great song, in a format aimed at learning guitarists.
No attempt has been made to copy or reproduce the artist's or publisher's sheet music for the song,
if such exists.
It can be used for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. To play the song as it should be played, you should
purchase the official sheetmusic for the song. You should also purchase and listen to the song to learn
the rhythm and timing of the song - this is essential if you wish to play the song with any degree of accuracy
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