Seven-time Eurovision winner Ireland is trying to recapture some of their former song contest glory. They have only reached the Grand Final once since 2014, but a 23-year-old singer from Derry is hoping to turn that around. Meet Brooke Scullion and her song “That’s Rich”.
Scroll down for “That’s Rich” lyrics
Ireland in Eurovision 2022: Brooke “That’s Rich”
Brooke Scullion competed on the ninth series of The Voice UK, singing “Bruises” in the blind audition and turning all four chairs. With coaching from Meghan Trainor, she ultimately advanced the final with a cover of “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart”. She placed third overall, but is still close friends with her former coach who encouraged her Eurovision dreams.
She has watched Eurovision all her life, but didn’t intend to enter the contest when she wrote the song. However, once she realised the potential that her song had, and with support from her management, she decided to submit it to RTÉ. The broadcaster held a national selection Eurosong for the first time since 2015 to decide its entrant for Eurovision. Facing five other competitors, including former Eurovision performer Brendan Murray, Brooke emerged victorious.
Despite the weight of Ireland’s legacy on her young shoulders, Brooke isn’t fazed. She’s stated that her song could “really switch up the face of the competition“. While she has been amazed by the positive reaction from younger listeners, her mum and dad “absolutely hated it”. Nonetheless, she agrees it’s the perfect song for Ireland because of how modern it is.
What do the “That’s Rich” lyrics mean?
“That’s Rich” is the first song Brooke ever wrote, alongside Izzy Warner and Karl Zine, who are both musicians from the UK. It is, Brooke says, a modern and fresh song about teasing a disappointing former lover. The opening verse describes the self-obsession of the ex, “Ain’t you gettin’ bored of your reflection?” and Brooke’s increasing disdain for them, “Stop sending flowers, I’ll just burn them all“. The self-obsession culminates with the former lover accusing her of using them, “Always putting me down, well I got news for you, you say I’m using you now…” To which she responds, “That’s rich!“
Brooke is using the song’s title to point out the hypocrisy of a former lover accusing her of abuse and wrongdoing. The chorus repeats the title, in between statements such as “When it’s coming from you” and “You think I dress up for you?” She then states clearly, “Bye bye fool!“
Brooke’s lyrics grows more personal throughout the second verse, where she teases their ability in the bedroom, “Used to think I need your help, to feel good turns out I do it better, think maybe you should please yourself…” This continues in the middle-eight, “You were a lazy lover, I moved on to ones that move me” where she also sings about how her confidence has grown since leaving them, “All glowed up, yeah that’s on me, you see me now, you want me“. Saying goodbye to a lover driven by selfish is definitely a popular topic for singers these days since it’s a very relatable topic. These lyrics are nonetheless much more brazen and straightforward than any other song of this theme that we’ve had at Eurovision so far. Let’s hope that translates to success this May!
“That’s Rich” lyrics – Brooke (Ireland ESC 2022)
Written and composed by: Brooke, Izzy Warner, Karl Zine
Take your mirror off the wall
Ain’t you gettin’ bored of your reflection
I’m tired of dodging all your calls
You wanna be the centre of attention
I’m gettin’ sick of you now
Stop sending flowers
I’ll just burn them all
You’ll cry for hours
Always putting me down
Well I got news for you
And you say I’m using you now
Hey stupid, that’s rich
When it’s coming from you
That’s rich
Well I got nothing to prove
That’s rich
You think I dress up for you?
That’s rich
Bye bye fool
Bye bye fool
Bye bye fool
Used to think I need your help
To feel good, turns out I do it better
Think maybe you should please yourself
Cos I am over you, I’ll see you never
I’m gettin’ sick of you now
Stop sending flowers
I’ll just burn them all
And you’ll cry for hours
Always putting me down
Well I got news for you
You say I’m using you now
Hey stupid, that’s rich
When it’s coming from you
That’s rich
Well I got nothing to prove
That’s rich
You think I dress up for you?
That’s rich
Bye bye fool
Bye bye fool
Bye bye fool
I think it’s funny how you miss me
When you never knew me
You were a lazy lover
I moved on to ones that move me
Loser lose your attitude
I’m doing good that’s on me
All glowed up, yeah that’s on me
You see me now, you want me
Bye bye
Cos I don’t need a lazy lover
Bye bye
No I don’t want to meet your mother
Bye bye
Don’t cry, I’m sure you’ll meet another
And you’ll tell her that you love her
That’s rich
When it’s coming from you
That’s rich
Well, I know all of your moves
That’s rich
You think I dress up for you?
That’s rich
Bye bye fool
Bye bye fool
Bye bye fool
What do you think of “That’s Rich”? Do you think Brooke could bring Ireland to its former glory? Let us know below!
I can say that the lyrics of the song are a bit superior and magnificent than the lyrics of all 40 countries, the performance is excellent, but the performance in the studio is completely different. Completely different on stage, I hope it will be successful.
I agree with some other comments that a revamp needs to give Brooke a vocal moment early. It is a pleasant song but juries will see it as ‘easy to sing’ so it will get lost amongst samey bops. Could Brooke let rip on one of the first ‘That’s Rich’ lines? Brooke needs to show her vocal range and added to a good staging, this song will be Ireland’s best result in years.
My 2nd place so far
Possibly our best entry in years!
Really grown on me the last few days.
Staging will be key to whether this qualifies or not. Memorable/impressive staging could really push this into Top 15 territory.
Best of luck Brooke.
This is the first Irish entry that I feel like I can genuinely get behind and I believe that it is very possible that Brooke can elevate the live performance enough to push us towards our best result since 2011 because she has stage presence, charisma and quite a good voice (I would like to see her do similar vocal acrobatics to what she did towards the end of the song last night because that might give the performance a bit more flourish). However, qualification is by no means guaranteed and I can foresee a scenario in which she might… Read more »
It’s the one song from last night that was guaranteed to improve once it hits the ESC stage. Brooke moves really well and she’ll probably put together an excellent show that will make full use of the big stage in Turin.
The lyrics are bye bye boo , aren’t they?
“Bye bye, fool”, but based on the way she sings that line, you can interpret it as being “bye bye, boy” or “bye bye, boo”.
This is some good character writing. She sets up a senario and builds upon it. This song has my favorite lyrics so far. Haven’t heard Trenuletul translated yet but I don’t think that’s got anything meaningful.
Mess, the song was performed on 7 April 2021. I wonder if they’ll get in trouble.
How do you know?
Context please?
Someone found a video on Instagram of her performing “That’s Rich” on 7 April 2021. Which is against the rules.
Much ado about nothing I would say. The song was publicly revealed nearly three weeks ago and yet it took some bitter fan trawling through hundreds of social media accounts that amount of time to even find a version of the song. It wasn’t listed or documented anywhere on the web.
I mean, wasn’t dude from Ukraine disqualified for that?
He was disqualified by the broadcaster, not by EBU.
It has happened certainly but also plenty of times where it was overlooked by the EBU. Brooke publicly revealed her entry nearly three weeks ago and it has taken some malicious fan that amount of time to even find a totally obscure performance of the song. RTE would fight it all the way if the EBU tried to disqualify their entry for such a flimsy reason – they may as well DQ her for singing it to five friends over Zoom.
Why did I think she was saying bye bye boy this whole time?
Still really enjoy the song. Wonder how much they’ll change in the very likely revamp.
I thought she said “Bye Bye Boo” lol
I thought she was saying Bang bang boom lmfao.
Irish accent can be tough to understand. Your comment reminded of a schoolboy talking about blizzard with violent accent video. I don’t think that Brooke’s accent is so hard to get through.