Verse 1
Dust in the sun through a barred-up sign
Glass case shining with the passing time
Guitars with scratches, rings with dents
Watches ticking out someone’s regrets
Old men lean with stories in their hands
Young ones trading dreams for quick cash plans
He don’t need to ask, he just knows
What you’re giving up is all you own
Pre-Chorus
Every ticket’s a confession, every coin a plea
He’s seen the weight of pride and necessity
He don’t judge, he just counts the cost
Learning what was gained and what’s been lost
Chorus
He don’t read palms, he reads pawn slips
Lives in the stories people can’t keep
We all preach truth when times get tight
Across that counter, under fluorescent light
He’s the pawn shop prophet
Watching souls in hock
Every lost dream ticking loud
Like a secondhand clock
Verse 2
A young dad trades his old guitar
Says “It ain’t the same without the bars”
A widow brings her wedding band
Keeps the memory, but she needs a hand
A kid sells tools from his daddy’s shed
To catch a bus to a life ahead
The medals and knives, the silver chain
All carry laughter, all carry pain
Pre-Chorus
He’s learned pride weighs heavier than gold
And love leaves fingerprints you can’t sell or hold
Some leave lighter, some leave slow
But everybody leaves with what they owe
Chorus
He don’t read palms, he reads pawn slips
Lives in the stories people can’t keep
We all preach truth when times get tight
Across that counter, under fluorescent light
He’s the pawn shop prophet
Watching souls in hock
Every lost dream ticking loud
Like a secondhand clock
Bridge
One day he sees something familiar there
A guitar he sold in his younger years
Memories hit like a freight train slow
Even prophets got debts they can’t let go
Final Chorus
He don’t read palms, he reads pawn slips
Lives in the stories people can’t keep
We all preach truth when times get tight
Across that counter, under fluorescent light
He’s the pawn shop prophet
Watching souls in hock
Every lost dream ticking loud
Like a secondhand clock
Tag / Outro
Everything’s worth something
If you know where to look
And sometimes the prophet
Learns the hardest lesson from his own book
SilasCrowe