“Tim McGraw,” which Taylor wrote in her freshman math class, was her debut single and first-ever published song. At the time, she was dating a senior named Drew Dunlap and believed they would break up before he left for college, so she wrote this song hoping to memorialize their time together.
The Tim McGraw song in question was 2004’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin'.” Taylor got to perform the song for a crowd Tim was in at the 2007 ACMs. The two later collaborated on Tim’s 2013 track “Highway Don’t Care.”
In 2018 Taylor also performed “Tim McGraw” live with Faith Hill and TimMcGraw himself during the Nashville leg of her reputation tour!
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Just a boy in a Chevy truck
That had a tendency of gettin' stuck
On backroads at night
And I was right there beside him all summer long
And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone
[Chorus]
But when you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think my favorite song
The one we danced to all night long
The moon like a spotlight on the lake
When you think happiness
I hope you think that little black dress
Think of my head on your chest
And my old faded blue jeans
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think of me
[Verse 2]
September saw a month of tears
And thankin' God that you weren't here
To see me like that
But in a box beneath my bed
Is a letter that you never read
From three summers back
It's hard not to find it all a little bittersweet
And lookin' back on all of that, it's nice to believe
[Chorus]
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think my favorite song
The one we danced to all night long
The moon like a spotlight on the lake
When you think happiness
I hope you think that little black dress
Think of my head on your chest
And my old faded blue jeans
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think of me
[Bridge]
And I'm back for the first time since then
I'm standin' on your street
And there's a letter left on your doorstep
And the first thing that you'll read is:
"When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think my favorite song
Someday you'll turn your radio on
I hope it takes you back to that place"
[Chorus]
When you think happiness
I hope you think that little black dress
Think of my head on your chest
And my old faded blue jeans
When you think Tim McGraw
I hope you think of me
Oh, think of me
Mmmm
[Outro]
He said the way my blue eyes shine
Put those Georgia stars to shame that night
I said, "That's a lie"