Broke 7 years of writer's block!

Strat1958

Late-blooming songwriter!
Time flies when you're having fun (hey...good idea for another song).

I can't believe it's been 7 years since I wrote a song and got it on tape. I went through a period a few years back where I was fairly prolific, getting 20+ songs out. Some good, some terrible, but songs nonetheless. Lots of good feedback from this forum pushed me to always try to do better.

Life gets in the way and time passes.

Anyway, recently I had an idea for a song banging around in my head, and at some point I had hummed a tune into my phone.

The two finally came together with the help of RhymeZone.com (as always) and I forced myself to write the song.

To complete the long story...here it is:
Palm Trees and Eighty Degrees

V1
HE CAME FROM THE CREST OF THE COLD NORTHWEST
KNOWING THE SOUND OF THE SEA
BUT SOMETHING DREW HIM TO THE COLOUR OF BLUE
AND THE SHADE OF A COCONUT TREE

Pre-CHORUS 1
AS HE SAT ON THE SAND WITH A DRINK IN HIS HAND
HERE IS WHAT HE SAID TO ME…

CH
JUST GIVE ME PALM TREES AND EIGHTY DEGREES
WHITE SAND AND A TROPICAL BREEZE
PALM TREES AND EIGHTY DEGREES
AND I MIGHT STAY A WHILE

V2
THERE’S MUCH YOU COULD SAY ABOUT MIST ON THE BAY
RAIN ON A COOL AFTERNOON
BUT SOMETIMES, YOU SEE…SUMMER NEEDS TO COME TO ME
AND I CAN’T ALWAYS WAIT UNTIL JUNE

Pre-CHORUS 2
AS HE MOVED FROM THE SUN TO THE SHADE WITH HIS RUM
HE LOOKED OVER HIS SHOULDER AND SMILED

CH
JUST GIVE ME PALM TREES AND EIGHTY DEGREES
SALTY AIR AND A WARM SEA BREEZE
PALM TREES AND EIGHTY DEGREES
AND I MIGHT STAY A WHILE

Pre-CHORUS 3
THE CONVERSATION WE HAD WAS MORE HAPPY THAN SAD
AND I KNEW WHAT HE SAID WAS TRUE

JUST GIVE ME PALM TREES AND EIGHTY DEGREES
NOWHERE NEAR ANY PLACE THAT CAN FREEZE
PALM TREES AND EIGHTY DEGREES
AND THIS JUST MIGHT BE HOME
 
Last edited:
Yay, congratulations on breaking the block! I agree with the previous comment - definitely has potential! Love the warm weather and the water vibes.
 
It's certainly very evocative of the picture next to the song title. It almost transports one there. It was a good way to come back from a writing blockage. I hope it was the unplugging of the dam.
 
Hello Strat1958,

I realize that this thread is a little bit old, but I would just like to say that I really like this song, and I'm glad that you broke your writer's block. I listen to this and I visualize two people sitting on some beach while the sun sets, and I imagine that's the sort of image you were intending to invoke; two people, maybe strangers, discussing the familiar yet foreign recipe for a life well lived: some warm weather, some goddamn rum, and the ocean churning just beyond your reach.

I think that the verses do a great job of setting the tone for the song as a whole; the chords aren't entirely your clean major chords, there's dissonance and ringing open strings - it doesn't set a sad tone, more of a subdued and relaxed one. Which is perfect, in my opinion, for what the song is primarily focused on.

Unfortunately I don't have much to suggest in the way of recommendations. The only slight thing I think I'd change (and it's very slight and completely a matter of opinion) is that when the chorus repeats for the last time, the way that you sing the first line changes the timing of an 'and' when compared to the way you sing that line in the rest of the choruses. To elaborate: the way that you sing that first line of the last chorus is as such: "just give me palm trees, [pause] and eighty degrees", whereas for every other time that line occurs the 'and' is sung before the pause: "just give me palm trees and [pause] eighty degrees". I think that it sounds much better in the latter way that you sing it, but I could also understand if your intention was to switch things up for one line in the final chorus.

Anyhow: great tune, thanks for sharing!
 
Back
Top