In my previous blog post Songsheet Generator chord grids for different tunings I used the song file for “Love Hearts (Sugar Lips)” to demonstrate how to code alternative chord definitions.
Most of the songs I have written have come to me very quickly and the ideas behind them have been entirely accidental and fortuitous. “Love Hearts (Sugar Lips)” is one of those very quick songs that just seemed to write itself.
Love Hearts – Trick or Treat?
Follow the lyrics and chords in the YouTube Video above
In order to have some gifts handy around Halloween and Bonfire Night, I had bought a heart-shaped tub of mini-packs of Love Hearts and kept them by the front door. There were a few packs left at the beginning of December. I opened one and the first two Love Hearts that came out said, “Spoil Me” and “Sugar Lips”. That made me smile and also made me think, “Oooo! There is a song in there!” The next pair of sweets to come out of the pack said, “Bye Bye” and “My Angel”. The next two said, “I Hope” and “Love Bug”, which I misread as “Love Bud”. The last one said, “My Boy“.
I decided that I would try to write a two-chord song using the messages on those Love Hearts. Going with what was happening by chance and because I liked it, I kept “Love Bud” rather than correcting to “Love Bug”. I did change the last one though, from “My Boy” to “My Love”. I like the ambiguity of “My Love”. Does it refer to the person who is “My Love”, who is “here to stay”? Or to “my love” for someone that is “here to stay”?
In the key of . . .
As I was writing the lyrics I could hear the song playing in my head and I decided that I was hearing it in the Key of D. However, when I came to type in the Key I hit the wrong key (!) and typed in F by accident. I decided that that might be another happy accident so I left it in F.
It is almost a two-chord song, being almost entirely in F and C. I was able to resist the lure of including Bb chords but I felt that the Bridge needed a “lift”. The one line in G in the Bridge then did something unexpected and pleasing, in that it gives the impression of a key change.
I am absolutely thrilled that Jim Carey liked it enough to include it in the January 2016 edition of Jim’s Ukulele Songbook !
Songsheets:
For the previous post about Songsheet Generator I made some pdf format song sheets with chords for different tunings. Here are those download links again plus the text of the original song file. (Please see the previous post if you want to see the chord definitions that I used to create the chord grids for different tunings.)
ADF#B chord grids: Love Hearts (Sugar Lips) v1 ADF#B
ADGCEA chord grids: Love Hearts (Sugar Lips) v1 ADGCEA
DGBE chord grids: Love Hearts (Sugar Lips) v1 DGBE
GCEA chord grids: Love Hearts (Sugar Lips) v1 GCEA
Song file text:
{t:Love Hearts (Sugar Lips) GCEA}
{st:Words and Music Ⓒ Liz Panton 2015 (v1)}
{Key:F}
{footer:Words and Music Ⓒ Liz Panton 12/12/2015 (v1). Created with Songsheet Generator}
{c:VERSE 1:}
[F]Love Hearts are better than a Fortune Cookie
When it comes to divining your [C]fate
Tell a tale o’ tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor
And don’t forget the First [F]Mate!
{soc}
{c:CHORUS:}
[F]Spoil me, Sugar Lips! Spoil Me, Sugar Lips!
What does my heart [C]say?
“Bye bye, My Angel”, “I Hope, Love Bud”
“My Love” is here to [F]stay.
{eoc}
{c:VERSE 2:}
[F]Love Hearts are better than a Fortune Cookie
When it comes to divining your [C]fate
Rich-man, poor-man, beggar-man, thief
And don’t forget the First [F]Mate!
{np}
{soc}
{c:CHORUS:}
[F]Spoil me, Sugar Lips! Spoil Me, Sugar Lips!
What does my heart [C]say?
“Bye bye, My Angel”, “I Hope, Love Bud”
“My Love” is here to [F]stay.
{eoc}
{c:BRIDGE:}
[C]Don’t toss a coin, don’t flip a card
See what the Love Hearts [F]say
[G]Don’t gaze at crystal or draw the short straw
See what the Love Hearts [C]say.
{soc}
{c:CHORUS x 2:}
Oh! [F]Spoil me, Sugar Lips! Spoil Me, Sugar Lips!
What does my heart [C]say?
“Bye bye, My Angel”, “I Hope, Love Bud”
“My Love” is here to [F]stay.
{eoc}
{c:OUTRO:}
[C]“My Love” . . . is here . . . to [F]stay.
Version 2
I am an inveterate tinkerer and there is a Version 2 that is a little bit longer. However, I have not recorded it yet so that will have to wait for another post.
Singer-songwriter, music-maker, organiser and unionista, bit of a geek, life long learner - there is always room for improvement!
Ukulele Allsorts 
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