Years before they climbed the country charts with songs like “Stay a Little… Read Full Bio ↴Years before they climbed the country charts with songs like “Stay a Little Longer” and “Rum,” the Brothers Osborne grew up in Deale, Maryland, a small fishing town on the Atlantic seaboard. It was a cozy place, filled with blue-collar workers who made their living on the water. During the weekends, many of those workers would head over to the Osborne household, where a series of loose, all-night jam sessions filled the Maryland air with the sounds of Bob Seger, Hank Williams, Tom Petty and George Jones.

The Osborne siblings strummed their first chords during those jam sessions. From the very start, TJ Osborne was the brother with the voice. He sang in a thick, low baritone, crooning like Johnny Cash long before he was even old enough to drive. Older brother John, on the other hand, was the family’s guitar shredder, his fingers capable of down-home bluegrass licks, arena-worthy rock riffs, country twang, and everything in between. Combined, the two Osbornes could play everything from traditional country music to rock & roll, creating a broad, full-bodied sound that would eventually fill the 11 songs on their major-label debut, Pawn Shop.

Like its title suggests, Pawn Shop offers a little bit of everything. There’s bluesy slide guitar, country duets, southern rock solos, harmonies, and plenty of groove. The hooks are big, the guitars are loud, and the songs — every last one of them co-written by the Osbornes, who reached out to award-winning songwriters like Shane McAnally and Ross Copperman for help — introduce a duo whose music bridges the gap between the mainstream and the alternative world. Some songs were written at home in Nashville, while others came together on the road, where the guys spent several years headlining their own club shows, touring the country with Darius Rucker, and playing some of the biggest arenas in America with fellow rule-breaker Eric Church.

“Most duos are built on singing,” says TJ “But John is an incredible guitar player, and this band is built on me singing and John playing guitar. It gives us two parallels that work nicely together.”

“It’s like an old-school rock approach,” adds John, who cites classic bands like Aerosmith and the Allman Brothers as influences on the duo’s dynamic. “Groups like that always had the lead singer as well as the sideman guitar player. That’s what we’re going for, too. We’re carving our own path in country music.”

That unique path has already led the band toward the upper half of the country charts. “Rum” got them there first, mixing the feel-good sunshine of a beach tune with a far more realistic storyline. There’s no actual beach in “Rum,” after all. Instead, Brothers Osborne turn the song into a tribute to the simple pleasures that their Maryland hometown offers: friends, good weather, and the occasional drink. They even filmed the song’s music video in Deale, filling the clip with footage of friends, relatives, and locals.

“Most people we grew up with don’t go to these beautiful beaches,” says TJ. “They can’t afford to do it. They don’t have the time for it. What we’re most familiar with is people going to the local bars and hanging out with each other.” John adds, “We tried to have the biggest time possible with what little we had. ‘Rum’ explains that.” The brothers agree, “We had to say it from our own perspective.”

A similar theme runs throughout “Dirt Rich” and “Pawn Shop,” two songs that stress the importance of appreciating what you’ve got. Pawn Shop dishes up plenty of love songs, too, from “Loving Me Back” — an old-school country duet featuring vocals from Lee Ann Womack — to “Stay a Little Longer,” the band’s biggest hit to date. While a three-minute guitar solo brings “Stay a Little Longer” to an epic, anthemic close, Brothers Osborne also devote time to more laid-back songs, from the nostalgic California country of “21 Summer” to the 420-friendly “Greener Pastures.”

Brothers Osborne, who co-produced the album with Jay Joyce (the award-winning producer behind Little Big Town’s Painkiller, Eric Church’s The Outsiders, and Carrie Underwood’s Storyteller), recorded most of Pawn Shop during breaks in their busy touring schedule, using members of their own touring band rather than session musicians from the Nashville community. The result is an album that’s stamped with the unmistakable mark of a band. It doesn’t sound like two singers, flanked by anonymous players. Instead, it sounds like a group of road warriors who’ve spent years sharing bus seats and hotel rooms, creating the sort of chemistry that can’t be faked. Pawn Shop is both raw and real, and Brothers Osborne — who, years after those household jam sessions in Deale, now have a handful of nationwide tours under their belts, songs on the charts, and a career on the rise — are no longer a family secret.

Pawn Shop
Brothers Osborne Lyrics

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If you've got bills that you can't pay
If you need cash like yesterday
If you've got junk just laying around
No credit check, just bring it on down

At the pawn shop
Get your guns and guitars in one stop
Whatever it is it won't cost a lot

Living on the cheap
Get your vinyl records and some DVDs
At the pawn shop
Get your jewels and your tools in one spot
It don't matter if the goods are hot
If they're yours or not
Find the thing you want
Sell everything you got
At the pawn shop

Across the street from the Texaco
Is a neon sign saying "We buy gold"
One man's pain is another man's pleasure
One man's trash is another man's treasure

At the pawn shop
Get your guns and guitars in one stop
Whatever it is it won't cost a lot
Living on the cheap
Get your vinyl records and some DVDs
At the pawn shop
Get your jewels and your tools in one spot
It don't matter if the goods are hot
If they're yours or not
Find the thing you want
Sell everything you got

At the pawn shop

Get your girl a dress
Get a VHS
A whole mess of tools and a secondhand suit
Get some picture frames,
Nintendo games
Buy a cheap gold necklace with a stranger's name

At the pawn shop
Get your guns and guitars in one stop
Whatever it is it won't cost a lot
Living on the cheap
Get your vinyl records and some DVDs
At the pawn shop
Get your jewels and your tools in one spot
It don't matter if the goods are hot
If they're yours or not
Find the thing you want
Sell everything you got
At the pawn shop

At the pawn shop

Overall Meaning

The song "Pawn Shop" by Brothers Osborne depicts the concept of using a pawnshop as a means of survival. The lyrics describe someone struggling to make ends meet and needing quick cash, without worrying about the potential consequences of selling personal items or even stolen goods at a pawnshop. The verses highlight the various things one can find or sell at a pawnshop, such as guns, guitars, vinyl records, DVDs, jewels, and tools. The person in the song is willing to let go of everything they own to get the specific item they want. The chorus emphasizes that at a pawnshop, everything has value, regardless of its origin or quality, and that one can find almost anything they need at a relatively low cost.

Line by Line Meaning

If you've got bills that you can't pay
If you have unpaid bills

If you need cash like yesterday
If you need cash immediately

If you've got junk just laying around
If you have idle and useless things

No credit check, just bring it on down
Visit the pawn shop without having to pass a credit check

Get your guns and guitars in one stop
Find a collection of firearms and guitar equipment in one location

Whatever it is it won't cost a lot
Whatever the merchandise is, it will be inexpensive

Living on the cheap
Choosing to live within a reasonable budget

Get your vinyl records and some DVDs
Obtain vinyl music records and movie disks

Get your jewels and your tools in one spot
Purchase jewelry and tools all in one place

It don't matter if the goods are hot
It doesn't matter if the goods are stolen

If they're yours or not
Whether they belong to you or not

Find the thing you want
Search for the item you need

Sell everything you got
Sell everything you possess

Across the street from the Texaco
Exactly across the street from a gas station called Texaco

Is a neon sign saying 'We buy gold'
A bright lighted signboard reads 'We purchase gold'

One man's pain is another man's pleasure
Something that troubles one person could mean joy for another

One man's trash is another man's treasure
Objects that one person considers worthless could be valuable to another person

Get your girl a dress
Buy your girlfriend a dress

Get a VHS
Acquire a VHS video cassette

A whole mess of tools and a secondhand suit
A collection of old tools and a pre-owned outfit

Get some picture frames, Nintendo games
Purchase picture frames and entertainment from the brand Nintendo

Buy a cheap gold necklace with a stranger's name
Purchase a low-cost gold chain with a random person's name inscribed

At the pawn shop
At the place where people pawn or sell their items

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Anthem Entertainment, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: SEAN MCCONNELL, JOHN THOMAS OSBORNE, THOMAS JOHN OSBORNE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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