How a Checkout Line Inspired Marty Brown's "Love Comes Easy"

Back in the early 1990s, country singer-songwriter Marty Brown stood in line at Wyndall’s Foodland on U.S. 60 East in Owensboro, Kentucky. In front of Brown, a guy stood watching the cashier scan his groceries. The man watched each price on the cash register until the cashier told him his total. The man responded, “Here, honey. It comes easy, but it goes away hard.”

When Marty Brown heard the man’s comment, he not only recognized a good line but he also knew they would make good lyrics for a song. Brown later explained to the Owensboro Messenger Inquirer that he never knew who the man was, but he took the words as inspiration for his song, “Love Comes Easy,” which appeared on Here’s to the Honky Tonks (1996).

Love comes easy,
But it goes down hard;
Just when you think you’ve got the right hand,
You’re holding all the wrong cards.

And that’s the Story Behind the Song.

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