Emoji Girl – Backstory
Emoji Girl is about human relationships and how they’re affected by technology. I imagined trying to create a relationship with a woman who is distracted by social media and her technology.
It was inspired by two separate moments a few days apart. I watched a couple in a restaurant who spent more time interacting with their phones than each other. The other moment came as I watched an adult almost get run over in a crosswalk while he was distracted looking at his phone.
The complete lyrics and my analysis of the song is below the video…
Emoji Girl – Lyrics
Verse 1
I met a sweet girl, seemed younger than I thought.
She smiled at my jokes but no other response.
Gave me her number, but doesn’t take my calls.
All I get is a sext, with just emoticons….
Pre-Chorus
She says she heart’s me, I LOL!
Not much for conversation, and she can’t spell.
She thinks in pictures, talks with them too!
How do I get through to her? What should I do?
Chorus
Oh-oh-oh-oh… Lovin’ an emoji girl
Oh-no-no-no… Lost in her emojis
Oh-oh-oh-oh… Lovin’ an emoji girl
Oh-no-no-no… She’s lost in her emoji world.
Verse 2
Playing in the shallow end is quickly growing thin.
A little fun at first, but I need something deeper.
Thought I was in love, I didn’t read the signs.
She’s fun to run with but … she’s not a keeper!
PreChorus
Chorus
Bridge
I need love advice,
I’m suddenly unsure.
How do I break up with her
Only using pictures?
Chorus (adjust chord progression to end)
Emoji Girl – Song Sketch
Verse 1: Meeting her, there are warning signs I didn’t notice
Verse 2: Finding the relationship shallow
Pre-Chorus: She’s distracted by her phone
Chorus: Loving an Emoji Girl
Bridge: How do I end the relationship and break up with her?
Exclusive sneak peek from the Ultimate Songwriting Jumpstart, example of a Song Sketch…
Emoji Girl – Song Structure
- Introduction (I) (chorus excerpt, spoken intro on video, segue into song introduction)
- Verse 1 (V)
- Pre-Chorus (PC)
- Chorus (C)
- Verse 2
- Pre-Chorus
- Chorus
- Bridge (B)
- Chorus
I V PC C V PC C B C
Emoji Girl – Lyric Breakdown
Emoji Girl – Lyrics – Meaning
Verse 1
I met a sweet girl, seemed younger than I thought = she acts younger than her age
She smiled at my jokes but no other response = she barely reacted to me
Gave me her number, but doesn’t take my calls = her behaviour is contradictory, she gave me her phone number but doesn’t answer
All I get is a sext, with just emoticons = she communicates with emojis
Pre-Chorus
She says she heart’s me, I LOL! = texting terms
Not much for conversation, and she can’t spell = she doesn’t talk or write effectively
She thinks in pictures, talks with them too = implying she isn’t mature or very intelligent
How do I get through to her? What should I do? = how do I communicate?
Chorus
Oh-oh-oh-oh… becomes Oh-no-no-no… my contradictory feelings in the relationship
Lovin’ an emoji girl / She’s lost in her emoji world.
Originally I planned to repeat the two lines twice, however when I was singing it “world” wanted to land on the first beat of the next bar. I removed world the first time, then when repeating the lines, I used it and added four extra bars to give me space to breathe before the next section.
Verse 2
Shallow end of the pool = kids zone
Quickly growing thin = thin ice
A little fun at first, but I need something deeper = deeper relationship
Thought I was in love, I didn’t read the signs =
She’s fun to run with but … she’s not a keeper! = fun but not a permanent relationship
Bridge
I need love advice, I’m suddenly unsure.
How do I break up with her only using pictures?
I’m implying she won’t understand a “real” conversation, I have to communicate on her wavelength using text talk and emojis.
Emoji Girl – Vocabulary
Emoji, emoticons, she heart’s me, LOL, sext = text terms
Gave me her number, but doesn’t take my calls.
Playing in the shallow end, a little fun, I need something deeper, I didn’t read the signs, she’s not a keeper, I need love advice, how do I break up with her = discussing relationships
Emoji Girl – Rhyme Schemes
Verse: XAXA
Pre-Chorus: ABAB
Chorus: AXAA
Bridge: XAAA
Emoji Girl – Melody
The Chorus melody was the first that I wrote for the song. The “Oh-oh-oh-oh” was inspired by a television commercial running at the time I wrote this… it got stuck in my head, so I got it out by improvising with it and transforming it into part of a song.
The Verse melody moves down by step following the chord progression over a short range for the first two lines. To add interest, I changed direction, moving up a third then letting it fall again. The last line moves up a third again but resolves upwards towards the beginning of the Pre-Chorus.
The melodies of both the Pre-Chorus and the Bridge descend, largely by step throughout. The tendency for falling melodies contrast with the leaps up in the beginning of the Chorus melody. The descending vocal lines dissipates the musical energy through each section.
Emoji Girl – Chord Progressions
Each chord is one bar. Sections are usually 4 bars per line. Verse, Pre-Chorus and Chorus each have extra bars as transitions to the next section, see “transitions” below.
Verse
A- C G D- A- C G G
A- C G D- A- C G G G G
Pre-Chorus
A- A- D- D- C C G G
A- A- D- D- C G F E E7 E7
Chorus
A- F E A- A- F E E
A- F E A- A- F E E
A- F E E7
Last Chorus
A- F E A- A- F E E
A- F E A- A- F E E
A- F E
Bridge
D C G A- D C G G
Transitions
A few bars (see below) are added after each section to add some space for the listener to understand the lyrics and to give a quick break for the vocalist. The return of the last chorus feels sudden because there weren’t any bars of music added at the end. These extra bars were added in a later draft of the song because they felt right and made it easier to perform.
There are 2 extra bars added after the Verse and the Pre-Chorus, and 4 extra bars after the Chorus.
Emoji Girl – Strengths
Because the song is a social commentary, I minimized the possible judgemental tone by putting myself into the story as one of the characters.
The story in the song is strong, verse 1 meeting her, verse 2 getting tired of a shallow relationship, and the bridge has the lunch line of the story: how do I break up with her only using pictures. The story is strong because I designed it when I wrote the song sketch, early in the songwriting process.
The melody is interesting and mildly addictive in the chorus. It’s memorable although it might be difficult for some people to sing comfortably. Although it’s catchy, there are a few too many words to make a solid pop song for the charts. This is typical for most of my songs.
Emoji Girl – Weaknesses
The melody is a little high for me. I wrote it that way to stretch myself, to get above my chest register and force me into a mixed voice. There are a few spots where I need further practice before I’ll be completely satisfied with my performance of this song.
I am also practicing different guitar accompaniment patterns, to create more variety and contrast between sections.
