"I'm Kissing You" by Des'ree

I'm not a big fan of "Romeo & Juliet." I think the story is kind of silly - two teenagers have a brief fling that ends up with like nine people being killed and a suicide pact. Sounds ridiculous and foolish. But I do like Baz Lurhmann's interpretation with Claire Danes and Leonardo Dicaprio. My AP English teacher in 9th grade had us watch it instead of the 1968 film starring Olivia Hussey. He said that the storytelling, and the ending especially, seemed more impactful. I'm inclined to agree. But I love Baz Luhrmann films because they are so decadent and colorful and outlandishly lavish. Overall, I think his version is more effective mostly because Claire Danes is plainly a better actor than Olivia Hussey. Her Juliet just seemed more believable and tragically beautiful - watching her, I knew she loved Romeo and Romeo (Dicaprio) loved her back. Passionately. And it was easier to think that you can fall in love in an instant and have it last forever. I want to believe that, if Romeo and Juliet had not been young and stupid, they would've stayed together and still be as in love as in those first three days. But I know how unlikely that is. Cynical as it is, he would grow distant and she would become disenchanted. Happily ever after is only true in fairy tales, so maybe it's better they both died in the end.

For a brief moment a few months back, I thought I understood the story. In the beginning, they were both sad and lonely. Romeo had been recently rejected by a girl he thought he loved immensely, Rosalind. And Juliet - well, her mother didn't really know how to show her affection and she was being pushed into a marriage of convenience. Sure, Count Paris is handsome (it's fucking Paul Rudd...fuck yeah, he's handsome) and rich, but Juliet is young and she wants more. They were both a little broken. Then, this party happens and Romeo and Juliet are brought together by chance. Neither of them were looking for it, but when they meet, it's like lightening. Like it's supposed to happen. In the Baz Luhrmann version, this is the song that's playing when they meet at the party. During the infamous "fish tank" scene. I love that scene. I would say it's one of my favorite scenes in all of cinematic history. Mostly because of this song. But it's weird though - that scene is supposed to be happy and magical and this song is unimaginably sad when you actually listen to the lyrics. I can't help but cry, sometimes (which makes writing this post especially difficult...).

Des'ree is singing about a love that's seemingly over and she's clinging to the memory of a kiss. Just a kiss. And at the end, she's asking, "Where are you now?" , because he (or she) is not there anymore. Maybe he's dead or maybe he's disappeared. More than likely, he disappeared. I guess that's what you'd call foreshadowing. Maybe we're not meant to be happy that Romeo met Juliet, because that's the beginning of the end for them. Sure, they are destined to be together but not in life. Fate is a cruel mistress.

Pride can stand a thousand trials

The strong will never fall

But watching stars without you, my soul cried

Heaving heart is full of pain

Oh, oh, the aching

'Cause, I'm kissing you oh

I'm kissing you oh

Touch me deep, pure and true gift to me forever

'Cause, I'm kissing you

Oh, I'm kissing you, oh

Where are you now?

Where are you now?

Cause, I'm kissing you

I'm kissing you, oh

Yes, seriously. Those are all the lyrics and the song is nearly 5 minutes long. But I could (and do) listen to it over and over, that's how good it is.

I do kind of love Shakespeare, though, and the various adaptations of his plays. Some of the greatest teen romances of the 90s and early 2000s are based on them, as you'll see. My older sister, M, had this old, battered book of all Shakespeare's plays and sonnets that she stole from the high school we went to. I used to borrow it to practice my acting skillz. I had my favorite monologues - Ophelia from "Hamlet," Hermia from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Beatrice from "Much Ado about Nothing." But by far my favorite was one of Juliet's monologues. Not the balcony scene....that's too predictable. No, my favorite Juliet monologue is the soliloquy she delivers before she takes the sleeping draught Friar Laurence gives her to make it seem like she died. It seems especially dramatic, because at the end, she's hallucinating that she sees Tybalt's ghost. And at the end, the performer gets to pretend to die. That's always fun.

In addition to the song video, I'm including the fish tank scene from "William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet." Because this month is more about the movies than the music. I was thinking of this particular movie recently because John Mulaney and his wife dressed up as Leo and Claire this Halloween and instantly won Best Couple's Costume of 2018, hands down.

Fish Tank Scene

"I'm Kissing You" Video (Just the song)