The song began with the title. I thought that bed and breakfast could refer to many things. Initially I was thinking of one night stands. It changed when I was watching a couple in Paris. It was clear that they were together, but to seemed to be invisible to each other. So used to each other that they no longer noticed one another. The phone held his attention in a way that she couldn’t.
The lyrics came together when I remembered the film Shirley Valentine and how she left him to go on holiday.
I wrote the tune at a piano. I liked it but as it changed key a few times in the verse it was difficult to sing with conviction. Dm Am , Gm Eb, Bb, F Ab Eb F
I tried it at an open mic but I didn’t think the verse was right. The Chorus and the bridge had a nice open feel the I wanted to keep in the verse. I rewrote it to stay in the same key.
Dm Am ,C G, Dm Am , F E on the second verse it ends on F G A6 to lead to the D in the Chorus.
It’s strange that the first time I rewrite a verse it seems very strange but after playing it a few times it seems it was always that way.