Scavenger Hunt CD Post: 06 Persistance of the Bard

If Shakespeare hadn't been such a master of writing about the human condition, and if his work had not been so enduring, I probably would not have my job and a lot of lyricists would be lacking in source material. That especially goes for - it seems according to the offering in this category - one particular love story he penned and even one particular Penn brother...

So from Stratford with love... Shakespeare references.

NO MYTH: Michael Penn
Nikki G
Stuart
Blake
Misty
-Since 1989, when this song made its first appearance, as did my love affair with Mr. Aimee Mann's music, it has been one of my favorite songs ever. To this day, I seek it out in karaoke books and roll up my windows every time it pops up on the radio so that I might not subject the rest the world to my singing at the top of my lungs, "What if I were Romeo in black jeans?"


ROMEO & JULIET: Dire Straits
Megan
-"You and me, babe. How about it?"

ROMEO & JULIET: Indigo Girls
Erica
- the beloved cover of the Dire Straits version, as opposed to the much loathed version I last heard performed by a Charleston busker.

I BET THAT YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR: Arctic Monkeys
Jenn O
Rory
-they make you look for it, "Oh, there ain't no love, no Montagues or Capulets/ Just banging tunes and DJ sets..."

RUN ROMEO RUN - Dean Bradfield
Thomas
-"Run run, Romeo run,/Leave the demons behind."

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER: Blue Oyster Cult
Crickett
- "Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity" such a good song to be so damned creepy. I am convinced that it's the inspiration for Death Cab's (awful) ballad "I'll Follow You Into the Dark"

JULIETTE: SHINee
Aly
-self-explanatory, as our heroine's name is the only thing I understand ;)

CHERISH: Madonna
Chuck
-"Romeo and Juliet, they never felt this way I bet"

and also a number of songs about the great dane...

HAMLET WENT SWIMMING: Michelle Malone
Scot
- but only after his love Ophelia did first

CRY OPHELIA - Adam Cohen
Joe
-before you go swimming, of course

CRUEL TO BE KIND: Nick Lowe
Erin O (disc 1)
- coined by the Bard himself in the longest play in the universe and spoken by Hamlet himself (if I recall correctly)

WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS MAN: cast of Hair
Liz
- spoken by Hamlet to Rosencrantz... or Guildenstern? or Rosencrantz?

and then perhaps Shakespeare's most famous quote ever...

LIMELIGHT: Rush
Amanda
-when my dad and I saw Rush last September, I posted as my status something along the lines of "thousands of rednecks are quoting Shakespeare right now. wonder how many of them realize it?" I love Rush. I love this song, I love the "All the world's a stage soliloquy from As You Like It

... and for some broader general references

IT WAS A LOVER AND HIS LASS: Three Quarter Ale
Sarah
- a sonnet!

RENEGADE: Eminem and Jay Z
Kyle
- "See I'm a poet to some, a regular modern day Shakespeare"

PLAYHOUSE BLUES: the Lost Boyz
Aunt Christy
- I think this the Abridged Complete Works set to music

and finally...

TURTLEDOVE: Trip Shakespeare
Katherine
- who would later become Semisonic

SHAKESPEARE'S SISTER: the Smiths
Erin O (disc 2)
-great minds, as they say...