Brass in Pocket

Released as a single in 1979 as "Brass in Pocket (I'm Special)."

While not The Pretenders' first hit, this was the song that got them noticed. This initial chords are indicative of Honeyman-Scott's musical influence, and the song moves into Chrissie's ideas of how she's "going to make you see" her. The video provides a more pathos-filled take on the situation, with Chrissie as a waitress and the other band members as customers, who all have girlfriends that arrive in the middle of the song.

This song provided the title for the Garbage song, "Special", with Chrissie giving explicit permission to Garbage that they could use it. Shirley Manson explains:

The point being that our lawyers started getting really freaked out about some of the things we were doing on the record. For instance, on one of the songs called 'Special,' I took a line out of Chrissie Hynde's 'Talk of the Town,' and it was meant as an homage to her, because the song itself is a little Beatlesque and Pretendersy. I just thought it was a nod to her. But our lawyers were like, 'You have to take it out. You're going to get sued. They'll come after you for hundreds of thousands of dollars. It has to come out.' And I was like, 'I'm not, I want it in there!' So I called her up and she took our call immediately and she was like, 'Are you kidding? I want it in there. That's fantastic!' So the next day, we came into the studio and there was this fax from her lying on our desks, and it said, 'I, Chrissie Hynde, do hereby allow Garbage, the rock band, to sample any of my sounds, my voice, or indeed my very ass.' And it was so cool. She never asked for any money. She didn't ask for any credit. Nothing. She just sent us this great fax.... We got really very lucky. People were really cool about allowing us to do something that we felt was important to us.

This song was #1 in the UK for 2 weeks in 1980. Written by Chrissie Hynde and James Honeyman-Scott.

Got brass in pocket
Got bottle I'm gonna use it
Intention I feel inventive
Gonna make you, make you, make you notice

Got motion restrained emotion
Been driving Detroit leaning
No reason just seems so pleasing
Gonna make you, make you, make you notice

Chorus: Gonna use my arms
Gonna use my legs
Gonna use my style
Gonna use my sidestep
Gonna use my fingers
Gonna use my, my, my imagination

'Cause I gonna make you see
There's nobody else here
No one like me
I'm special so special
I gotta have some of your attention give it to me

Got rhythm I can't miss a beat
Got new skank it's so reet
Got something I'm winking at you
Gonna make you, make you, make you notice

Chorus

'Cause I gonna make you see
There's nobody else here
No one like me
I'm special, so special
I gotta have some of your attention
Give it to me
'Cause I gonna make you see
There's nobody else here
No one like me
I'm special, so special
I gotta have some of your attention

Give it to me