The song is told from the perspective of a lowlife pimp, Norman, attempting to convince a failed actress to put herself “up for sale”. He lies to her, tells her she’ll be famous. Later, he sombrely observes what she has become a broken drug addict, looking like “something death brought with him in his suitcase”. As another poster stated, it's a character study of Hollywood dreams gone awry. One of Zevon’s very best songs.
The song is told from the perspective of a lowlife pimp, Norman, attempting to convince a failed actress to put herself “up for sale”. He lies to her, tells her she’ll be famous. Later, he sombrely observes what she has become a broken drug addict, looking like “something death brought with him in his suitcase”. As another poster stated, it's a character study of Hollywood dreams gone awry. One of Zevon’s very best songs.