In our lives, I have to believe we were all subjected to listen to MANY horrid and sappy love songs. I also believe that many also enjoy the mushy the filled your ears to the brim, and the sticky and gooey substance probably feel…well good to you, and if that’s the case, good for you. Personally I hate love songs that are only meant to appeal to the ‘Top Forty’ crowd.  The  one thing though that well-done love songs and laughable love songs have in common is this: both are at fault for creating some sort of reference to Romeo and Juliet, not all of them, but good and bad have both done it. The difference in that though, is that good love songs are accurate with their references to one of Shakespeare’s most famous tragedies. The song that first comes to mind is one that has been stuck in my head all day called ‘Goodnight Moon’ by Go Radio. It is granted, only a small piece of the song that makes the reference to Romeo and Juliet that makes you know it was about the two star-crossed lovers, but it is very accurate.

Again, whether this band meant to or not, the allusion is actually spot on.. However, I believe all is in order to first say where the allusion is at the very and of the song, he refers to object of admiration as this ‘And there you were, as I saw my Juliet come graceful down the stairs/It’s hard to miss the way her eyes light up the room and steal the air’. Whether or not this was the intent of the song or not, Go Radio did a very good job at this. The song depicts entirely only the romantic side of Romeo and Juliet. When I say this, they exempt the suicides, the murders, and the fact that they were really just hormonal teens. Instead they show two people whose infatuation with each other is pure and meant to be innocent saying in the chorus ‘Sit in our bedroom and read aloud, like a passage from 'Goodnight Moon'’ (Yes! They even make an allusion to the beloved children’s novel), which once you really start to read in between the lines, this is actually extremely sweet. It’s just giving you an image of the euphoric joys you have as a child, except these feeling of bliss were brought on by another, and that’s all you really want, in a sickly sweet and adorable sense, them.

Also, even more surprising of Go Radio’s successful go at even making me go ‘awwww’ at their cutesy lyrics, they also did a fabulous job of making sure their allusions were a correct ones. In Romeo and Juliet, Romeo sneaks away to see his beloved so early in the mourning, it was almost the day before, and they talk for supposedly a few hours (but only bout ten minutes in play time), and Goodnight Moon opens up with these lines And don't go to bed yet, love,/I think it's early,/And we just need a little time to ourselves./

If my wall clock tells me that it's four in the morning,/I'll give it hell. Possible unintentional reference to the famed ‘Balcony Scene’? I think so. This scene also has Juliet sort of not quite bashing, but scolding Romeo for being far to romantic and near the very end of the scene she tells Romeo not to swear his love for her on anything (accept thy gracious self). The next two lines show us feelings Romeo may have felt about Juliet’s comments 'Cause I've been trying way too long,/To try to be the perfect song,/When our hearts are heavy burdens,/We shouldn't have to bear alone. The last part I’m going to dissect from the song for you is one that I already did in the paragraph before. The only little reference to Romeo and Juliet. In the play, Romeo ‘fell in love’ with Juliet instantly, and hit the ground before he even knew what was coming next. ‘And there you were, as I saw my Juliet come graceful down the stairs/It’s hard to miss the way her eyes light up the room and steal the air’. This shows the infatuation Romeo felt when he first laid his eyes upon Juliet’s fair features. I would also like to mention, that the son does not makes references to the whole play, just from us discovering Romeo’s insane loneliness to when he an Juliet agree to marry, neglecting the fact that the play was actually a tragedy, however, many do enjoy the innocence of the song.

If I were given the stomach to handle all of it, I could name hundreds of songs with references to William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, good and bad. The difference though is that the good ones get the allusions correct, much like the song 'Goodnight Moon' by Go Radio.