Songs: She Tastes Like Sugar

notes / gigs / releases

She walks with a sugar beat
She talks with a silver tongue
She was born in a silver spoon
She was wise when the world was young
She's a dispenser shaking, sachet breaking
Sugar bag of fun

She tastes like sugar, sweet to me
I love her with a cup of tea
She makes me smile so much I'll need
To get an extra set of teeth

She tastes like sugar, sweet to me
She fills me up with calories
We'll work them off athletically
She tastes like sugar, sweet to me

She tastes like sugar, sweet to me
I love her with a cup of tea
She makes me smile so much I'll need
To get an extra set of teeth

Published by Wipe Out Music Publishing

On Friday 13th October 2006 I was on my way to Glasgow to do a gig. My plane had been delayed so I was sitting in the departures lounge (GLAMOUR) checking my emails. Just before my time ran out I got a message from Mr J Esplen, PUBLISHER EXTRAORDINAIRE, who'd passed on the following request from some advertising TYPES, to see if i had anything that might suit:

We are currently looking for songs for a soft drink company. Songs for this spot need to be upbeat, fun, just a bit kitschy, and make you feel good and smiley. Lyrical content needs to reference any of the following: "sweet", "tastes good", "sugar", etc.

I didn't have time to reply, but got onto the plane trying to think whether i had anything even vaguely suitable in the BACK CATALOGUE, eventually admitting to myself that I didn't... yet. On the flight and my subsequent travels around the mighty Glasgow (2nd City of the Victorian British Empire - FACT supplied by the open-top bus tour) a TUNE for the chorus gently arose, with the first half being formulated entirely in my HEAD on the Friday, and most of the second half coming out on the Saturday morning when I went A-WANDERING. After a while it struck me that the TUNE i was singing to myself MIGHT fit the chords to another song I was trying to finish, called "We've Learnt To Love It". I'd been TOILING over this one for ages, i had a GRATE chord progression for both chorus AND verse all worked out, and a nice idea for a THEME (when you love somebody LOTS you often end up coming to terms with HABITS of theirs you initially disapprove of and eventually come round to love that part of them too, and how this happens all over the world. There was going to be a LOVELY middle bit about how, all over the planet, people are picking their feet and being adored for it), but it wasn't really GOING anywhere. Oddly, the tune I'd thought of WASN'T the same as the vocal melody for that song, but I thought it might fit.

I was NEARLY right - that afternoon me and The Plimptons were hanging around in the studio of Mr Brendan O'Hare where there was a GUITAR to borrow, and I discovered that by changing the SECOND chord of the chorus From Major To Minor then it all WORKED. HOORAH! I went home later that night and on the Sunday (15th) sat myself down and at HIGH SPEED worked out the verse. It's all based, rather loosely, on the Vibrations Of My Strings, who was sat in the other room getting ready to go out at the time, although I say loosely because she wasn't really born with a silver spoon, it just rather FITTED. I'm really pleased with how the SUGAR THEME worked out, especially "she walks with a sugar beet" which i think is COOL - occasionally in the pasts idiots have called my songs "pun-filled", largely when they don't understand what a pun actually IS, but I do think this one fits the description. I was also quite chuffed with the bit about needing an extra set of teeth - SPOOKILY, the very next day, I went to the DENTISTS. Coincidence? PERHAPS NOT.

I recorded a version of the song at StudioSonic, complete with HANDCLAPS, and sent it straight to John... who basically said it'd not get anywhere as it was such an obvious SEXUAL METAPHOR. GUMPH! I'd never even THOUGHT of that, but of course he was correct on all counts and we never heard NOWT from them! OH DEAR!

I still liked to song, so when Robbie Newman, our ENGINEER sent out a request for SPARE SONGS for a project he intended undertaking doing cover versions in different styles i gave him THIS, and thought that'd be the end of it... but still the TUNE nagged away at me and so when I came to do the solo album i thought, HEY, let's give it another go!

It'd been CYNICALLY DESIGNED as a sunshiney pop sort of song, so i decided to have a go at doing JUST THAT, but got a bit STUCK with the chorus - harmonies are not exactly a STRONG SUIT of mine but without them it all sounded a bit flat. I tried SINGING AROUND it with different bits and bobs, until FROM NOWHERE the backing vocals that are there NOW appeared and transformed the whole song. I can't imagine it without them now, as they basically take over and BECOME the chorus, and thus there were some Very Excited Handclaps added once it was all done! This is one of the few songs that is JUST me on the album and, as is THE LAW, thus must include a GUITAR SOLO. It also features some BASS that I am rather pleased with, so all in all i feel it has DONE WELL!