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Hear the Song
v
Tumble Dry Low
words and music by Paige Powell © 2009 Paige E. Powell
1. Whenever I go shopping
For clothes that catch my eye
I look for size and color,
And price before I buy
But there is one thing extra,
Before my money’s gone
I’ve learned to read the label
Before I try it on.
Chorus: Tumble dry low, tumble dry low
Machine wash cold and tumble dry low
I’ll buy it just as long as I can
Toss it in the wash!
(last time, …toss it in the washing…”)
Machine wash cold and tumble dry low
2. If it says, “Dry Clean Only”
It goes back on the rack
Or if label instructions
Say, “Hand Wash and Dry Flat”
I only want to sing a single
Song in the laundry room
And just one kind of washload
To add detergent to! (Repeat Chorus)
3. A working girl has no time
To hand wash separately
Don’t stick us in the bathroom,
Doing hand wash by the piece
It only takes five minutes,
But it isn’t getting done
We’d rather do more shopping
With our girlfriends, having fun! (Repeat Chorus)
Bridge: We’d have carefree relationships
Just like the clothes we wear
If only people came with some
Instructions for their care! (Repeat Chorus)
Featured on NBC's Tonight Show, Jimmy Fallon played this on the "Do Not Play" segment on Tuesday night, October 22. Unfortunately, the YouTube clip of the segment has been taken down, but for a limited time, you can watch The Tonight Show for that date at this link here. Jimmy plays my song after 15 minutes into the show.
Every woman knows the connection between shopping and laundry. And women remember this song every time they see the clothing tag, “Machine Wash Cold, Tumble Dry Low”. That little tag was the inspiration for Paige to write this song.
Women have come up to Paige, gushing , pointing, laughing and exclaiming that they remembered this song the last time they did their laundry, and after hearing the song only once! There really IS a connection to shopping and laundry and this song tells the story of what women think when they shop for clothing and look at the care instructions tag. It’s true that many of us think twice about buying an item that says “Dry Clean Only” because it adds to the cost of maintaining the garment. We already spend too much time, energy and money to maintain all the stuff we already have. Paige was inspired to write this song after sorting a wash, muttering “Tumble Dry Low” for each garment that could go into the dryer. After submitting the song to a Songwriters Association of Washington critique session, Lisa Taylor, a published songwriter, who was the guest artist on that day, suggested that the bridge should have a connection with people, and how we wish they could have “instructions for their care”. So, I revised the bridge to say just that. Thanks, Lisa!
Blog from April 21, 2021:
The Story Behind the Song,
"Tumble Dry Low":
Yes, it all started in the laundry room, the same one in the photo to the right. I was checking which articles of clothing could go into the dryer by reading the tags, "Machine wash cold, tumble dry low" and found myself muttering, "Tumble dry low, tumble dry low" repeatedly until it became a little song in my mind. I thought about that little tag, and where its existence began, in the store. The song begins, "Whenever I go shopping..."
When I brought my song to my fellow songwriters at the Songwriter's Exchange meeting of the Songwriters' Association of Washington (SAW.org), Lisa Taylor was
our guest artist. She suggested that I write a bridge about people and relationships, something I hadn't thought of. It really made the song so much better: "We’d have carefree relationships, just like the clothes we wear, if only people came with some instructions for their care!" At the end of that meeting, one woman came up to me and begged me for a copy of the song. That really encouraged me that the song could be a hit. When I played it at coffeehouses and open mic events, women who heard the song ONCE remembered it and would tell me MONTHS later that it was a great song, and that they thought of it when they did laundry, which was my plan all along. My song's title is stitched into the tags of billions of pieces of clothing.
Then, on October 22, 2019, Jimmy Fallon played "Tumble Dry Low" as part of his "Do Not Play" segment on NBC's Tonight Show. I didn't know about it until the next day. While checking my email, I saw multiple messages from YouTube with comments from people who saw my song played by Jimmy the night before. I was in shock. No one from the show's staff contacted me for permission. I guess if they only played the first 37 seconds of the song, there was no legal need. It's downright funny that ASCAP paid me $1.82. The good news is that, to date, "Tumble Dry Low" has had 7,802 views on YouTube and my live performance of it has 2,107 views. Not enough to even earn $10 from YouTube, but I did get a check for $10 from CD Baby a couple months ago. It's getting some play on Spotify (5,084 plays to date). Yes, I do plan to make a Music Video of it, but you know — that costs lots of time!
So, dear reader, let me know if you have any additional ideas for me to make "Tumble Dry Low" grow in its popularity. I still struggle with scheduling the time to learn about music marketing while keeping up with my job and housework. And don't mention income taxes, which I haven't started! If you do want to make "Tumble Dry Low" part of your day, please add it to your playlists. If you need encouragement, I made a playlist on Spotify called "Play These, Feel Better"!
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