𝙡𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 —

He said the way my blue eyes shined,
Put those Georgia stars to shame that night,
I said, "That's a lie"
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
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.
September saw a month of tears, And thanking 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
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.
And I'm back for the first time since then,
I'm standing 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."

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,
Mmm...
He said the way my blue eyes shined,
Put those Georgia stars to shame that night,
I said, "That's a lie"

     𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 —

Taylor's songs at the beginning of her career, like most country songs, are descriptive. The lyrics were a lot more literal, but tells stories. Taylor wrote Tim McGraw in math class, when her boyfriend was moving away and told her they would have to break up. According to Taylor, she started thinking about all the things that reminded her of him. 

In the first verse, the lines "And I was right there all summer long//And then the time we woke up to find that summer gone" might refer to how the subject was moving away, the summer being their relationship and the time they had spent together. However, they 'woke up' to realize the jarring reality that the subject had to leave, they had to break up, and their relationship, their summer, was gone. 

Moving on to the second verse, we see the line "September saw a month of tears//And thanking God that you weren't here to see me like this". In the Northern Hemisphere, autumn typically starts in September. Autumn, as we know, is the season following summer. In the previous verse, we saw summer used as a metaphor for Taylor and the subject's relationship, summer's end referring to the end of Taylor and the subject's relationship. In turn, autumn could refer to the time after their relationship. The time for crying, guilt, anger, wondering if it could have been different, and healing.

Finally, in the bridge, "Someday you'll turn your radio on//I hope it takes you back to that place" could be Taylor coming to terms with the end of her and the subject's relationship, hoping that the subject can and will also recover, will move on, but also cling on to some parts of their past together, of their relationship. Hoping that the subject will remember her sometimes, in little things that happen.