St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
St. Vincent
On “Pay Your Way In Pain,” Annie gives the quotidian hurdles of her everyday life a narrative, reminiscing on the ways that life always manages to accompany every task with a struggle.
Following the announcement of a new era, fans were encouraged to call 1-833-77-DADDY, where the track was official...
[Intro]
(Ow)
Oh-oh-oh
[Chorus]
You got to pay your way in pain
You got to pray your way in shame (Yeah, ow)
[Verse 1]
I went to the store, I was feelin' kinda hungry
But I didn't have the money and the shelves were all empty
So I went to the bank to ch-ch-ch-check my checking
The man looked at my face, said, "We don't have a record"
Oh no, you thought we had forgotten?
The show is only gettin' started
The road is feelin' like a pothole
Sit down, stand up, head down, hands up, and
[Chorus]
Pay your way in pain
You got to pray your way in shame (Uh-huh)
[Bridge]
Do you know what I want? (What do you want? What do you want?)
You know what I want (What do you want? What do you want?)
You know what I want (What do you want? What do you want?)
Keep the rest, baby, ah, ah
I wanna be loved
Pay, pain
Pray, shame
[Verse 2]
So I went to the park just to watch the little children
The mothers saw my heels and they said I wasn't welcome
So I, I went back home, I was feelin' kinda queasy
But all the locks were changed, my baby wouldn't see me
Oh no, you've put your finger on it
The stove is only gettin' hotter
The sun, it's gotta, gotta melt it
Stand up, sit down, hands up, break down
[Outro]
(What do you want? What do you want?)
You know what I want (What do you want? What do you want?)
I wanna be loved (What do you want? What do you want? Pay, pain)
I wanna be loved (What do you want? What you do want? Pray, shame)
Pay Your Way in Pain was written by St. Vincent & Jack Antonoff.
Pay Your Way in Pain was produced by St. Vincent & Jack Antonoff.
St. Vincent released Pay Your Way in Pain on Thu Mar 04 2021.
I feel like we live in a world where we’re often asked to choose between surviving and dignity. It’s also about how there’s nothing that I’ve done in my life that didn’t involve some sort of struggle. Some of those struggles are really worthy ones to have and something great can come of them.
Yes, St. Vincent performed the song for the first time on Saturday Night Live on the April 3, 2021 episode:
This character is like the fixture in a 2021 psychedelic blues. And this is basically the sentiment of the blues: truly just kind of being down and out in a country, in a society, that oftentimes asks you to choose between dignity and survival. So it’s just this story of one really bad fuckin’ day....