Lyrics
Verse 1
We were seventeen by the county fairPeach soda fizz and dust in our hairYou stole my jacket when the sun went downI wrote your name on the edge of townWe rode two miles past the water towerCounting fireflies by the hourYour old Ford coughed but it got us thereTo a blanket tossed in the summer grass
Pre‑Chorus
You said forever like you knew what it meantI believed every word you spent
Chorus
Oh, those July hearts, running wild and freeCheap red wine, warm as TennesseeYour hand in mine, stars overheadFirst kiss, first lie, first tears we shedWe were young enough to call it fateToo young to know that love could breakI still taste that summer when the night gets longThose July hearts keep singing their song
Verse 2
We split a bottle behind the grain-store signBurned our initials in the porch rail pineYour mother yelled when you missed curfewI laughed so hard I could barely breathe with youThen September came with a colder windYou left for school, I stayed put againOne phone call and a suitcase by the doorYou said you loved me, just not anymore
Pre‑Chorus
I held my pride till the headlights fadedThat was the first dream I watched get traded
Chorus
Oh, those July hearts, running wild and freeCheap red wine, warm as TennesseeYour hand in mine, stars overheadFirst kiss, first lie, first tears we shedWe were young enough to call it fateToo young to know that love could breakI still taste that summer when the night gets longThose July hearts keep singing their song
Bridge
Now the fairground's gone and the water tower's rustedThe porch rail's cracked where our names were cut inI pass that field when the August air turns sweetAnd hear your laugh in the tires beneath meIf I could go back, I wouldn't change a thingNot the goodbye, not the ache it would bringSome loves don't stay, but they never leaveThey grow into the girl I had to be
Final Chorus
Oh, those July hearts, running wild and freeCheap red wine, warm as TennesseeYour hand in mine, stars overheadFirst kiss, first lie, first tears we shedWe were young enough to call it fateToo young to know that love could breakI still taste that summer when the night gets longThose July hearts keep singing their song
Outro
Yeah, those July hearts, I can feel them startEvery August night, beating in my heart