From the ‘remembering too little to google’-folder: male singing, either with himself or with another in chorus, perhaps vaguely Simon & Garfunkel-ish in style; guitar backing; occasional panpipes. Lyrics centre around a Juliet, I believe calling her queen repeatedly, perhaps even ‘queen of queens’, though I’m not sure about that part (in my head, it kinda goes like 'Juliet (something)-een, (something something) queen (of queens?)). Heard in a small souvenirs shop in Rome, so perhaps better known in Italy. That’s about all I remember.
Anybody got any good guesses? I know it’s not much to go on, even for this crowd…
This might be a long shot, but your description reminds me of The Cinema Show, by Peter Gabriel-era Genesis (from their 1973 album Selling England By The Pound). The first verse goes:
Home from work, our Juliet clears her morning meal
She dabs her skin with pretty smells, concealing to appear
“I must make my bed,” she said, and turned to go
Can she be late for her cinema show?
So nothing about queens, but some words that might have sounded like it, and the scansion sort of fits. It’s very acoustic (the beginning anyway), and there are flute interludes. And Gabriel-era Genesis was quite popular in Italy, I think.
Here’s the best version I could find; verse starts at 0:42. (I wish I could’ve found a studio version; it has clearer harmonies to match your Simon and Garfunkel reference.)
Sorry, didn’t mean to abandon you. Unfortunately, you don’t get the prize, because it goes to…
Biffy the Elephant Shrew! Thanks so much for solving this puzzle for me.
None of the replies went to waste, though, since I like the other two songs put forward as well, so thanks for some new musical directions to look into!
