Annotated lyrics for The Hold Steady song '40 Bucks' - 40 bucks and her favorite band / She stayed out too late again / The band’s back in Birmingham / She didn’t go to work again / She’s always been a pretty big fan / Certain songs get scratched right in / When morning comes round again / The sadness crashes down and she said / When he first came unto me it sounded kinda like a symphony / It was hearts and horns and winds and warm and wet / This morning when the band left town it bummed me out like a birthday clown / A whole lotta drinks and a little bit of sleight of hand / 40 bucks and her favorite band / Her mother loved the seventies / The leather vests and the Dungarees / Her bio-dad played bass guitar / In a five-piece out of Wichita / They had a little local hit / You can find it on the internet / They made her on the night they met / In a motel made of cigarettes / She’s never even met the dude / But she heard the song and it was pretty cool / A sad, slow waltz about a pure and simple love / There are days when she gets fatigued / She’s pretty old for this music scene / And our dreams sing along to the music of our youth / 40 bucks and her favorite groups / She doesn’t really do it much / But she could probably get some party stuff / She doesn’t really do it much / But she could probably get some party stuff / She says she doesn’t know the guy but she’s pretty sure he’d stop by / She barely even knows the dude but he’s come around for some other group / And when he finally calls her back she says, 'Guys let me cover this / I know you don’t make much money yet, I know it mostly goes to cigarettes.' / Last night’s conquest wasn’t all that famous yet / Two twenties from her dresser while she slept / And then he left