Pawn Shop Halo

Intro

Dellmore Avenue, Yusuf's window humming light

Fourteen carats glowing dull through Tuesday night

Buzzer cracks like knuckles when the door pulls wide

Every ticket in that drawer's got somebody's pride

Verse 1

My father's watch went in there, oh-six, early spring

Rent was due, the fridge was bare, I needed everything

Yusuf weighed it on the scale, said forty for the band

Took the cash and left it warm still ticking in his hand

Told myself I'd get it back before the month was out

Told myself a lot of things I wasn't sure about

Ms. Odalys ran a tab, said take your time, it's fine

Said your daddy shoveled snow off her stoop back in oh-nine

Ninety days, the ticket burned a hole in my back pocket

Interest climbing like the fire escape, gotta stop it

Picked up shifts at Palmer's lot, wiping down the chrome

Every dollar folded twice, walking three miles home

Kept the ticket folded soft, the corners going gray

Some nights I'd stand outside the glass and stare into the display

Watch was sitting next to rings that other hands let go

Whole block's history stacked behind that pawn shop glow

Chorus

Pawn Shop Halo, gold under glass

Everything we hocked to make the month last

Pawn Shop Halo, ticket in my coat

Some things you buy back, some things you let go

Verse 2

My man Odie pawned his amp the week his son was born

Said the crib mattered more than the sound he used to warm

I copped him studio time anyway, free of charge

Told him music don't stop just cause the wallet's large

He looked at me like I owed him something running deep

Like the favor came with interest I was tryna keep

Two months later my car got towed off Dellmore Square

He pulled up quiet, no words, paid