Velcro Shoes

Album: Pete Yorn (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This glance back over the shoulder at simple childhood joys like tree houses and go-karts is a track from the self-titled fifth full-length release from American singer/songwriter Pete Yorn.
  • The nostalgic song captures the excitement of a young boy being bought a new pair of sneakers. "We would go to this place called Sneaker Town in Montville, New Jersey," Yorn recalled to Spin magazine, "and [the cashier] would be always be like, 'You want them in the box or do you want to wear them home?' I'd be like, 'I'll wear them home!'"
  • Yorn first got the idea for the song when he was a student at Syracuse University, but it took until he was in his mid-thirties before he recorded it. "As you get into college, [you have] that longing for the freedom you had as a kid, even though you were totally unaware of it," he explained to Spin. "As you get older, a lot of people get more restrictive because they lose that sense of freedom. [The song's] about being conscious of that, and getting it back."
  • The Pixies' Frank Black produced this song, along with the rest of the album.

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