Tim McGraw Puts His Truck Up for Sale, Hopes the Memories Go With It in ‘7500 OBO’ [Listen]
"7500 OBO" isn't Tim McGraw's first song to tell a story of love lost through the lens of a car. Plenty of vehicles zip in and out of his discography: the cabriolet bringing him back to what might have been in "Red Ragtop," the car that carries his love down an indifferent highway in "Highway Don't Care," the one that's nothing but radio sing-a-longs and an appreciation for what is in "Shotgun Rider."
McGraw's newest single, though, takes listeners to the 2006 Ford F-150 that he just can't bear to keep.
Why's the "For Sale" sign in the window? On the R&B-influenced track, McGraw sings, "It runs smooth, it'll get ya from A to B, but not from me / 'Cause every time I turn that key, I see her."
Matt McGinn, Jennifer Schott and Nathan Spicer penned "7500 OBO," first released on McGraw's 2020 album Here on Earth. The song feels personal to McGraw thanks to the fact that the songwriters name-check his own hit "Where the Green Grass Grows" in the song's chorus. (The "Shotgun Rider" reference won't be lost on McGraw's fans, either.)
While the song's lyrics strike the balance between nostalgia and heartbreak that pulses through so many classic country songs, the production and overall sound clearly peg the single to the modern chapter of McGraw's career. On "7500 OBO," McGraw blends steel pedal and fiddle with R&B-infused guitar licks and a mid-tempo groove.
This time, the nostalgia isn't something in which to stay immersed. McGraw ends the song with acceptance — even if it's melancholy: "If I'm gonna let her go / I gotta let it go / Yeah, it's gotta go."
Tim McGraw's "7500 OBO" Lyrics:
Got an '06 stick-shift, dark blue F-150 in good condition / Got 119,000 miles, only five on the new transmission / It's got leather seats, a sunroof / It's sittin' on 33s, it runs smooth / It'll get ya from A to B, but not from me / 'Cause every time I turn that key, I see her ...
Chorus:
Shotgun ridin' down a two-lane road / Just drivin' around with no place to go / Us singin' along to "Where the Green Grass Grows" / Hand's out the window, floatin' on the breeze / She's fixin' her lips in the drop-down mirror / That pretty little thing made it hard to steer / I'm never gonna get her outta there / There's too many memories / Now there's a "For Sale" sign in the window / Yeah, 'cause if I'm gonna let her go, I gotta let it go / Yeah it's gotta go, so it's $7,500 OBO
Back bumper's got a dent from her backin' in to a mailbox first time she drove it / Couldn't even be mad with her lookin' like that / Told her, "Hell, you can hardly even notice" / It's got nights with her I can't forget / Kissin' on the tailgate of the truck bed / I wish I didn't have to get rid of it / But every time I turn that key I see her ...
Repeat Chorus
It's got leather seats, a sunroof / It's sittin' on 33s, it runs smooth / It'll get ya from A to B, but not from me / 'Cause every time I turn that key, I see her ...
Repeat Chorus
It's $7,500 OBO / It's $7,500 OBO ...
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