Pawn Shop

Album: Your Life Is a Record (2020)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Here, Brandy Clark recounts some sad vignettes of people selling off their valuables to help them start over. There is a woman flogging her wedding ring, and a musician whose guitar doesn't support his family anymore.

    Jamey Johnson made a similar reference to a guitar in a pawn shop on his 2010 track "The Guitar Song." "I'm just a guitar in the pawn shop on the corner. And I'm waiting for someone to play me now and then."
  • While Clark has a personal connection to pawn shops through an uncle who owned one, the actual inspiration for this song came from a different source. She explained to The Boot:

    "I was reading a book one time, and there was a guy, the guy at the pawn shop [in the book] who said, 'I have the job of telling people that something's not worth what they think it is.' That really hit me as a song idea."
  • Clark wrote the song with Louisiana native Troy Verges, whose resumé also includes Hunter Hayes' "Wanted" and Tim McGraw's "Shotgun Rider."
  • Other songs about pawn shops include two tracks with the same title by Brothers Osborne and Sublime, plus Lana Del Rey's 2010 tune "Pawn Shop Blues."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")

Terry Jacks ("Seasons in the Sun")Songwriter Interviews

Inspired by his dear friend, "Seasons in the Sun" paid for Terry's boat, which led him away from music and into a battle with Canadian paper mills.

Gary Louris of The Jayhawks

Gary Louris of The JayhawksSongwriter Interviews

The Jayhawks' song "Big Star" has special meaning to Gary, who explains how longevity and inspiration have trumped adulation.

Subversive Songs Used To Sell

Subversive Songs Used To SellSong Writing

Songs about drugs, revolution and greed that have been used in commercials for sneakers, jeans, fast food, cruises and cars.

Art Alexakis of Everclear

Art Alexakis of EverclearSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer of Everclear, Art is also their primary songwriter.

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The Devil

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The DevilSong Writing

Just how much did these monsters of rock dabble in the occult?

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.