2026 Competition Entry:
Cold Morning of a Hot Midnight Affair by Suzanne Chawner
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Lyrics
Cold Morning of a Hot Midnight Affair
It seems so right when you meet him in the red light of the bar
And he tells you that you’re beautiful, yes you really are!
And it seems so right when he walks you to your door and holds you tight
The hungry flame inside of you blazes through the night
But sometime in the morning, as you watch him toss and turn
You know there’s something missing, why don’t you ever learn
(Chorus)
It’s a cold, cold morning of a hot midnight affair
You can see it in his eyes that he doesn’t really care
And the love you were imagining wasn’t really there
It’s a cold, cold morning of a hot midnight affair
You lie there with your eyes half closed, pretending you’re asleep
While he’s quietly trying to find his scattered things so he can leave
He pauses for a moment and you open half an eye
He tells you he will call you, but you both know it’s a lie:
‘Cos he doesn’t have your number, nor even your last name
His face is disappearing back into the crowd again
(Repeat chorus)
It seems so right when you meet him in the red light of the bar
And he tells you that you’re beautiful, yes you really are!
And it seems so right when he walks you to your door and holds you tight
The hungry flame inside of you blazes through the night
But sometime in the morning, as you watch him toss and turn
You know there’s something missing, why don’t you ever learn
(Chorus)
It’s a cold, cold morning of a hot midnight affair
You can see it in his eyes that he doesn’t really care
And the love you were imagining wasn’t really there
It’s a cold, cold morning of a hot midnight affair
You lie there with your eyes half closed, pretending you’re asleep
While he’s quietly trying to find his scattered things so he can leave
He pauses for a moment and you open half an eye
He tells you he will call you, but you both know it’s a lie:
‘Cos he doesn’t have your number, nor even your last name
His face is disappearing back into the crowd again
(Repeat chorus)
Author
Bio
When I was a child, I wrote poetry that was published in my school magazine. Later, when I was 16, I began writing songs in my Camden bedsit. Young people in the shared house began knocking on my door, saying they liked the songs.
In my twenties, I visited Los Angeles and I took a songwriting class with Buddy Kaye (“A you’re Adorable, B you’re so Beautiful”). He liked one of my songs so much he took it to Chrysalis Music in London. Unfortunately, being a hot-headed young artist, I didn’t want to change one line of my lyrics and I walked away. Cold Morning was written while I was in Los Angeles. I have a tune, but have never recorded or performed the song.
Next, I cut my performing teeth playing guitar and singing in the bars and beisls of Vienna, where I lived for a year. Returning to England, I began playing in folk and acoustic clubs and festivals, where my personal songs often touched a chord and I got some good reviews of my first cassette in Folk Roots magazine, City Limits and Time Out.
Enjoying working on my craft, I went on a songwriting retreat with Willy Russell, who liked my writing so much he mentored me following the course and paid for some demo tapes of my songs. He particularly admired my song “On Primrose Hill”.
Eventually, I met a female record company executive (in the toilets!) at a music conference, and she invited me to send a demo. Her Irish label Round Tower Music subsequently released a CD of my songs in 1995, entitled “On Primrose Hill”. The CD received positive reviews in Mojo, Folk Roots and other magazines as well as a personal note from Caroline Sullivan of the Guardian saying how much she liked the album. Andrew Vaughan of City Limits wrote “She’s definitely got a hotline to the gods of the songwriters.”
Giving birth to an autistic child two years later in 1997, my attention was drawn away from my songwriting to give my full attention to my beautiful and extraordinary child.
Newly retired from my late career as a school counsellor, I have renewed energy and am enjoying concentrating on my songwriting and performing again. I am ambitious for my songs to gain a wider audience. It’s never too late?!
In my twenties, I visited Los Angeles and I took a songwriting class with Buddy Kaye (“A you’re Adorable, B you’re so Beautiful”). He liked one of my songs so much he took it to Chrysalis Music in London. Unfortunately, being a hot-headed young artist, I didn’t want to change one line of my lyrics and I walked away. Cold Morning was written while I was in Los Angeles. I have a tune, but have never recorded or performed the song.
Next, I cut my performing teeth playing guitar and singing in the bars and beisls of Vienna, where I lived for a year. Returning to England, I began playing in folk and acoustic clubs and festivals, where my personal songs often touched a chord and I got some good reviews of my first cassette in Folk Roots magazine, City Limits and Time Out.
Enjoying working on my craft, I went on a songwriting retreat with Willy Russell, who liked my writing so much he mentored me following the course and paid for some demo tapes of my songs. He particularly admired my song “On Primrose Hill”.
Eventually, I met a female record company executive (in the toilets!) at a music conference, and she invited me to send a demo. Her Irish label Round Tower Music subsequently released a CD of my songs in 1995, entitled “On Primrose Hill”. The CD received positive reviews in Mojo, Folk Roots and other magazines as well as a personal note from Caroline Sullivan of the Guardian saying how much she liked the album. Andrew Vaughan of City Limits wrote “She’s definitely got a hotline to the gods of the songwriters.”
Giving birth to an autistic child two years later in 1997, my attention was drawn away from my songwriting to give my full attention to my beautiful and extraordinary child.
Newly retired from my late career as a school counsellor, I have renewed energy and am enjoying concentrating on my songwriting and performing again. I am ambitious for my songs to gain a wider audience. It’s never too late?!
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