Story Behind The Song

A few years ago, a very close friend of mine suggested, "You should write a song that tells a story about a girl who spent most of her life thinking that the idea of romantic love is extremely clichéd and overrated. But then she suddenly falls in love for the first time, and she begins to change her mind." Amused by the familiarity of the premise, my immediate reply was, "Oh, so you want me to write a song about your life story?" She rolled her eyes and then added on, "But here's the catch: the song is ironically full of clichés, figures of speech, idioms, etc. Like as close to being 100% idioms as possible." I smiled. As an English major, this kind of assignment was right up my alley. "Challenge accepted."

Song Description

This is a narrative song about my friend, who shockingly fell in love after spending most of her life convinced that romantic love is cliched and overhyped. She pitched the song idea to me, along with an ironic twist: that the lyrics are nearly 100% made of cliches. Naturally, I said, "Challenge accepted." I chose ukulele as the main instrument (to honor my friend's daily pastime of strumming on her ukulele), filled the song with idioms and key changes, and also arranged the string section.

Lyrics

There's the girl
Who would never ever fall in love
Not til Hell freezes over
And pigs fly up above

Clichéd nonsense, blue sky thinking,
Small talk, and dressing up
Are not her cup of tea

All in a day's work
She's busy burning candles on both ends
Ain't got time for sappy soft spots
So she's been nonchalant root and branch

When out of the blue
He has entered the scene
Soon they're hitting it off
And oh, what do these feelings mean?
She's trying to turn a blind eye toward
What her story has in store

Lo and behold
The cat's got her tongue
This guy's blown her away
Leaving her in a fog
She is at the wheel no more
He is of the first water
Of all those she's known
There's icicles in hell
And pigs have flown
Her world has turned upside down
Lo and behold

Romance has been all Greek to her
So all of this is clear as mud
She is a fish out of water
Though emotion is consuming her like a flood

Why did Renaissance man
Have to come and awaken her heart
She can't deny that he's caught her eye
Cause her composure is falling apart
She keeps finding more traits to admire
While they get on like a house on fire

Lo and behold
They are joined at the hip
This guy's blown her away
Why can't she get a grip?
She is at the wheel no more
He's the cat's pajamas
And they are on the same page
And she is so engaged
In all he has to say
He's turned her world upside down
Lo and behold
Lo and behold

Falling head over heels has been
A double-edged sword
She once had her ducks in a row
But now the ball's in his court
This former master of fate
Has found herself pacing the floor
Well, that's the way the cookie crumbles
Back to the drawing board

Roses are red
And violets are blue
She's got a lot on her plate
But she's thinking of you
Love's not as clichéd and daft as she once thought
Through changing seasons,
She's weathered the storm, and
She sees silver lining
In how she's transformed
She's glad that you've turned her world upside down
Lo and behold

Playlist Creator	Playlist Name	Date Added
Lyfe Concierge Publishing	BEST SONGS ON BROADJAM	7/12/2024