Put A Flower In Your Pocket

Album: Yours, Dreamily (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The third single from The Arcs, the side project of Black Keys singer Dan Auerbach, is about a drug dealer peddling his wares on the mean streets, but the inspiration came from a surprisingly innocent source: a little girl. Leon Michels, the band's keyboardist, recalls to the Song Exploder music podcast how his daughter gave him the idea: "She was just picking flowers and she's like: 'I'm gonna to put a flower in my pocket.' And I felt like, oh, 'Put a Flower in Your Pocket,' that's like a cool Temptations' song title or something. So, I just gave that to Dan and then he turned it into something else."

    Auerbach added: "I just thought about somebody putting like a dime bag in their pocket and we turned it into basically a drug dealer anthem."
  • The song fell into place when Nashville session guitarist Russ Pahl played the guitar line and everyone else joined in. "We're all kind of orbiting around Russ," Auerbach explained. "This is a live performance. The bass, the guitar, the keyboard and the drums; it's live; there's no edits; second take. You know, this thing just happened; we didn't even have to think about it."
  • Auerbach said the band experimented with vintage gear to "get really modern sounds."
  • The animated music video from director Omar Juarez is the bloody tale of a boxer being hunted by a gangster. Auerbach told Rolling Stone the clip was "kind of ridiculous," but it aligns with the band's no-holds-barred philosophy: "I'm just having fun [and] basically making music with no responsibility."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Guy Clark

Guy ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Vince Gill, Emmylou Harris and Lyle Lovett are just a few of the artists who have looked to Clark for insightful, intelligent songs.

Ian Gillan of Deep Purple

Ian Gillan of Deep PurpleSongwriter Interviews

Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan explains the "few red lights" in "Smoke On The Water" and talks about songs from their 2020 album Whoosh!

Mike Love of The Beach Boys

Mike Love of The Beach BoysSongwriter Interviews

The lead singer/lyricist of The Beach Boys talks about coming up with the words for "Good Vibrations," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "Kokomo" and other classic songs.

Dr. John

Dr. JohnSongwriter Interviews

The good doctor shares some candid insights on recording with Phil Spector and The Black Keys.

Charles Fox

Charles FoxSongwriter Interviews

After studying in Paris with a famous composition teacher, Charles became the most successful writer of TV theme songs.

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots

Robert DeLeo of Stone Temple PilotsSongwriter Interviews

Stone Temple Pilots bass player Robert DeLeo names the songs that have most connected with fans and tells the stories behind tracks from their Tiny Music album.