Sarah Spencer performs her original song "Pink Flamingo," inspired by 1950s Florida motels and the nostalgic kitsch of vintage postcards. She grew up cringing at the aesthetic before falling in love with it, then built the song around an imaginary neon-lit motel. Spencer walks through her songwriting process: starting with a hook phrase and building the narrative from there.
So yeah, um. Hey everybody, my name is Sarah Spencer and I'm a singer-songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. And I've got a new song for you today. It's called "Pink Flamingo." So I'm wearing pink. I know, it's so corny. I'm from Florida originally and pink flamingos are like the quintessential vintage Florida visual. And I just really wanted to write a song called "Pink Flamingo." So stick around, after the song I talk a little bit more about where the inspiration came from, how the song was written, who it was written about, if it was written about anyone at all. I'll also explain these. They're so tacky.
1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4. This day trip down to the water was the best idea we've had. 'Cause I've been lying here just soaking up the corona lime with my toes in the sand. Staring out at the Emma for miles and miles, oh, I could stay here till the end of time. So baby, let's get a room, maybe for a night or two, maybe for the rest of our lives. We'll spend it at the pink flamingo. From the moment you stepped inside, How do you become a local? Do you want to keep up or shine? Get out making it, banging like you got it. Let the day come and go. We'll spend every morning sleeping in and waking up to the sound of the waves, and every afternoon we'll ride across the Avenue for a couple hours on the beach. You want to check out the motel pool. Yeah, you do. You and I got some time to explore, but it'll be a minute till I'm missing you and kissing you and pushing you up underneath the number on our door after paying for mango. From the moment you step inside, you become a local. You want to hear Jimmy or Bob? They no Play any song you want they know at The Pink Flamingo! Yeah! Feeling right for island time settling I think we belong here catching rays on summer days baby let's make our home away— yeah! At The Pink Flamingo! Do you want to keep that moonshine makin' and makin' like you got it at the Flanklin' window? Yeah, taking this day trip down to the water was the best idea we've ever had.
So, Pink Flamingo. Yeah, so I'm from Florida originally, and as a kid, I hate to admit this now, but like honestly it drove me crazy whenever we walked into old buildings or saw old signs or anything that were like in the style of that 1950s postcard Florida, vintage Florida. It just kind of made me cringe because it was everywhere when I was a kid. I was surrounded by it all the time. But now that I live in Tennessee and I'm many, many, many hours away from Florida, I get really nostalgic about that stuff. I think it's really cute and really cool. You know those vintage motels back when they were cute motels and you would actually want to stay there and you couldn't just rent them by the hour, you know, like back when they were cute in their heyday. So I wanted to write a song called "The Pink Flamingo" which which is an imaginary hotel somewhere in Florida. Maybe a Pink Flamingo Motel exists, I don't really know. But in my mind, the Pink Flamingo is just this cute 1950s style motel with a big neon sign and a big pink flamingo on it. I just wanted to write a song that took place in that world, in that motel. So that's where the idea came from. I literally got my hook book and I wrote down, I was like, "Hmm, Pink Flamingo, like that's a song. I don't know what it's about yet, but that's a song and it's gonna take place at one of those motels." So yeah, that's Pink Flamingo. I really hope you enjoy it. I release new music on my YouTube channel and also my Patreon page, and for my patrons, as patron rewards, I tease new songs that I'm working on, give you guys a behind-the-scenes look of what it's like being a songwriter in Nashville, and give y'all downloads of songs as they're being written and recorded. So yeah, check it on out. I'm gonna put a link probably right here. Right here? Voilà! Magic of the internet. Thank you, YouTube. Oh yeah, so these— aren't these like the gaudiest things you've ever seen? I don't actually own anything with a freaking pink flamingo on it. Like, shame on me. I'm from Florida. I am a Floridian. I should have at least one flamingo item, but I have none. But I came pretty close with these, I think. They're just like obnoxious bright pink palm tree earrings because who owns those, right? Nobody. Just me. But I knew they would come in handy one day cuz they're too— ah god, they're so tacky. I hope you enjoyed the song. Check out my Patreon page and new music sometimes. Love you too, bye!
