Today we looked at creative lyric writing again. We were given prompts for lyrics, which included very disconnected words including ice cream, shrimp and curtains (1). We decided that these lyrics lent themselves to a post-relationship breakup song. We developed a chord pattern that sounded quite sombre and sad, utilising mostly minor chords. Our lyrics matched this tone, making references to binge eating ice cream to cope with sadness. We then decided to give it a lift in the vein of the chorus of Hamilton’s “You’ll be back” (2), switching to mostly major chords and playing chords on every beat. We changed the lyrics to match this, calling out the ex-partner as a shrimp, which we felt was a creative use of the given lyrics.
Lyrics and Chords
Bm7. Em7. F#m7. D7
Lonely curtains on a boring Monday
I just wanna shut them now
Chocolate ice cream cause you didn’t stay
Now there’s nothing left to say
Bm7
All those sleepless nights
C#m7
All the pains and fights
Dmaj7
I blamed myself
Gmaj7
But I see it now
F#m7
And I wonder how
Em7
I never noticed that
D. F#m. G A
You’re a shrimp
I don’t understand
How I spent so much time crying myself blind and lying to myself
You’re a shrimp
No I don’t understand
How I fell so hard, how you break me apart
Now I’m singing this to you
Bm7. F# G. A
I didn’t realise
All of your real lies
And you left me on my own
You’re a shrimp
(1) Rotumah, Grayson. “Writing to a Brief” Workshop presented at the course Song Writing and Performance 1A, Hartley Building, University of Adelaide, April 25, 2022
(2) Jonathon Groff – Topic, “You’ll Be Back”, April 21 2017
Songwriting Journal 