Photo courtesy of Spence Hood
Spence Hood has found his niche in a little corner of TikTok, writing songs that beg for replay — because they might be about you. A project that started by regularly writing short, name-inspired songs on the app led to his latest single, “So You Wanna Marry Daisy.”
A self-described “singer-popwriter making melodic, lightweight guitar- and piano-driven jams with flares of jazz and r&b,” Hood’s most recent release hits less like a pop song and more like a lost number from the musical Chicago. But that’s okay — it’s supposed to sound that way.
In a viral TikTok captioned, “PSA i will henceforth only be writing songs for blouse-wearing Italian villains,” Hood sneers lyrics about a doomed suitor pursuing a woman who is presumably Daisy Buchanan from “The Great Gatsby.” Approaching the bridge, the lyrics grow murderous when Hood suggests this love could lead Buchanan’s suitor to “lay on the wrong side of the grass.” It’s a clever turn of phrase that succinctly communicates how dreaming of lying in the grass next to Daisy could lead to a burial instead of a romantic above-the-grass picnic. Location is key.
PSA i will henceforth only be writing songs for blouse-wearing Italian villains 🍝 #originalsong #musicaltheatre #songwriter #acoustic
His lush arrangement of the final song is clean and theatrical, with sly horns, a boatload of auxiliary percussion, and a surprisingly technical jazz guitar solo that might make Jaco Pastorius reconsider his career choices. It sounds like it was written for a musical because it was — or at least for an app filled with angsty musical-theater-loving teenagers reading Fitzgerald for the first time. To promote the single he’s even uploaded his own instrumentals, so his theatrically-inclined fans can sing along and give his songs their own spin.
Thank you like the dickens for 33k, tag the heck outta me in whatever you make w this 🎩 #originalsong #musicaltheatre #duetme #jazzguitar
If you like modern musical theater, you’ll probably enjoy “So You Wanna Marry Daisy.” But if you love musical theater, collaborating with Hood is only a TikTok away. Listen to the track below, and let us know if it makes you want to commit fancy crimes or at least sing along in a fancy blouse.
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8.7
Old Timey Lyrical Death Threats
10.0/10
Production
7.5/10
Internet Meme Potential
8.5/10