Public Domain (That's All She Was)

by @tcelliott

Challenge: PUBLIC DOMAIN

Liner Notes

#americana #altcountry #acousticonetake #weeklychallenge

Someone linked the bluesky stream into the slack and the prompt came up. I immediately had an idea for a lyric and here it is. Let me know if the bridge is too cheesy. I mean, it's cheesy, but is it too cheesy? Oh, and are the verses in the right order? I really, really love that opening line where it is but I'm second guessing myself now.

Lyrics

She was never told she was beautiful When she was young Ended up dropping out of high school Thinkin' she was dumb And that's all she was

She put herself into the public domain And everybody used her How can you tell her she's more valuable than that?

Truth be told, she never had a chance To be all she could be Always called names like tart and tramp Until even she believed That's all she was

She put herself into the public domain And everybody used her How can you tell her she's more valuable than that?

She never thought she was good enough to give her all But she's something special and we need to convincer her To learn about copyright law

She put herself into the public domain And everybody used her How can you tell her she's more valuable than that? How can we tell her she's more valuable than that? How can we tell her she's more valuable than that?

Comments

[avatar]

This is so sweet! It's almost on-the-nose, but I feel like it needs to be for the significance of the subject. Also, really pretty chords, I especially like how you sang the end of the verse lines! 🧡

[avatar]

Nice take on public domain films. It’s difficult to not let others define us. Something we hopefully get better at with age. Thanks for sharing.

[avatar]
@willow1

This song is really powerful and thought provoking, a story of a girl’s future trapped in poverty.

[avatar]

This is pretty cool.

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I really like the melody and the rhythm keeps things moving. The storyline has me thinking and wondering and questioning, which is a good thing - for example, who “should” tell someone they are valuable? And how would it be received/listened to? Thought-provoking song! Nice use of the weekly prompt.

[avatar]
@aeye

This is a very clever way to use the prompt. Flips the meaning of public domain into a much different context.

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