Phoenix Blues

[Cornflake]

I set out to write a lightweight song that sounded like Johnny B. Good. Here's the result. The humor's a bit local.

Well summertime is here and we’re stuck indoors
I’m getting pretty weary of these walls and floors
But where can we go when it’s a hundred and two?
I get the same answer that I always do
Put your flip-flops on—let’s go to the mall

We can go to Sears, you can shop for bras
While I’m busy checking out the power saws
There’ll be stuff to buy and people to see
They’ll all look kinda frumpy but so do we
Put your flip-flops on—let’s go to the mall

Chris-Town is seedy and a little bleak
We can’t go to Scottsdale—we’re not that chic
The Biltmore’s prices make my wallet bleed
I’d say Metrocenter is about our speed
Rock out

[Instrumental verse]

They’ve got a water feature we can go and see
They’ve got an escalator we can ride for free
Buying discount shades and discount shoes
Is the discount cure for the Phoenix blues
Put your flip-flops on—let’s go to the mall
Dress frowsy now—let’s go to the mall

[Marshall]

I don't like "wallet bleed."

Other than that it moves along in a nice smile-on-your face kinda way.

[Cornflake]

Yeah, "wallet bleed" is a good example of settling for a bad line because I couldn't find a good rhyme.

[Village Idiot]

I was about to say that the wallet bleed was the best line. I read the song as being forced to do something that one has no desire to do, and bleeding fed right into it. As a mall hater, I liked that line.

[Cornflake]

VI, I know you don't like malls, but this wasn't really about being forced to do things you dislike. Honestly, in July and August, people here go to malls because it's too damned hot to go anywhere else. I've done it and I hate malls as well. Like I said, the humor is local.

[Doug]

I like it, Flake.

Drop the whole 3rd verse and it's no longer just local. If you need to fill that space do it with a short bridge (2 or 3 lines) or a long bridge (8 + lines) but keep it away from the length of the verses. That would break it up more and give it a more complex feel without being more complex.

[Village Idiot]

I've done it and I hate malls as well. Like I said, the humor is local.

I understand that, and that's why I like the word bleed.

[Cornflake]

Doug, what appears to be the third verse is a bridge. I don't mind the local nature of the song. My bandmates' view is that the local references will be funny to our audiences and I tend to agree. ("We can't go to Scottsdale, we're not that chic" is a funny line to Phoenicians who don't care for Scottsdale, which is a lot of us.)