This song is actually about Knopfler's ex-girlfriend, Holly Vincent. She treated him badly, dumping him over the phone when he was on tour in America. He wrote Romeo and Juliet about her, and Love Over Gold shows his contempt of her - he's talking about the love he had for her, that she let run through her fingers like dust - and it echoes the sentiments of Romeo and Juliet - 'You can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold, You can fall for pretty strangers, And the promises they hold, You promised me everything, You promised me thick and thin, yeah, Now you just say, oh, Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him'. He finishes this songwriting arc with 'When It Rains', which is the last song he wrote about her, and seems to dismiss her pretty well! Knopfler actually saw the words 'Love Over Gold' painted as graffiti on a wall, and thought it'd be great to use in a song sometime!
@gutti That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. It makes so much sense with every word in the lyrics and even the emotion that he puts into the playing. He surely was king of putting emotion into his guitar playing - such nostalgia he evokes.
@gutti That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. It makes so much sense with every word in the lyrics and even the emotion that he puts into the playing. He surely was king of putting emotion into his guitar playing - such nostalgia he evokes.
This song is actually about Knopfler's ex-girlfriend, Holly Vincent. She treated him badly, dumping him over the phone when he was on tour in America. He wrote Romeo and Juliet about her, and Love Over Gold shows his contempt of her - he's talking about the love he had for her, that she let run through her fingers like dust - and it echoes the sentiments of Romeo and Juliet - 'You can fall for chains of silver, you can fall for chains of gold, You can fall for pretty strangers, And the promises they hold, You promised me everything, You promised me thick and thin, yeah, Now you just say, oh, Romeo, yeah, you know I used to have a scene with him'. He finishes this songwriting arc with 'When It Rains', which is the last song he wrote about her, and seems to dismiss her pretty well! Knopfler actually saw the words 'Love Over Gold' painted as graffiti on a wall, and thought it'd be great to use in a song sometime!
@gutti That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. It makes so much sense with every word in the lyrics and even the emotion that he puts into the playing. He surely was king of putting emotion into his guitar playing - such nostalgia he evokes.
@gutti That's really interesting, thanks for sharing. It makes so much sense with every word in the lyrics and even the emotion that he puts into the playing. He surely was king of putting emotion into his guitar playing - such nostalgia he evokes.