Day 20: Shot Down In A Paris Cafe

Lyrics:
I got shot down in a Paris cafe
Then I found out that they thought I was somebody else
My passport was gone and I don't speak Francais
There was no way to say that I was somebody else
And the nurses were sweet, and the doctors polite
And I felt like royalty for just one night

I got tracked down by the cinemaniacs
Then I signed autographs until security came
They say the President called when I was fast asleep
It's the gang that you keep when you're drowning in fame
And come sunrise my treatment was done
And they released me to a clamoring throng

A talk show host said he had his doubts
He sent some men just to rat me out
And soon the crowd had turned

I got chased out to the Swiss embassy
They swore that they'd ship me back to London, then home
I got shot down in a Paris cafe
I was King for a day, I was King for a day

Details: I had a very tentative co-write scheduled for today that ultimately fell through, so I got to write a solo tune, instead. I picked a few random prompts from various books (with my roommate, who also decided to start a song of her own) and got to work. I didn't use any of the prompts directly, but the ones that kind of got me going were "Tracer" and "Nail"; "Tracer" as in someone who traces somebody and "Nail" as in "nailing someone down". Then it just went its own way.

I sat down and came up with part of a melody, but wasn't satisfied and tossed it aside, so I came up with another; then I just decided to smush them together. The structure is a bit unusual, I think, in that the verse feels more like a chorus-bridge combo, with the actual bridge being almost like a second bridge. Anyway, I like how that unusual structure kind of pulls you along in a hurry.

I went out for a walk to find the lyrics, but came back mostly with just the idea of the a victim of a crime who gets mistaken for a celebrity in a foreign country. The lyrics are pretty straight-forward without much detail, but it's pretty fun. I'm looking forward to the first revision.

I'm not sure how long this song took to write, because I took several breaks during the day. I got the recording down in about three takes, however.