23

Album

Single

Label

MCA Nashville

Genre

Country

Composer(s)

Sam Hunt;Shane McAnally;Chris LaCorte;Josh Osborne

Entered Chart

Jan 8, 2022

Peak Date

Feb 12, 2022

Released

Unknown

Recorded

Unknown

Catalog #

MCA Nashville

"23" is a nostalgic country-pop jam where Sam Hunt looks back fondly on a past relationship. He reminisces about their trips to New Orleans and Folly Beach, and a conversation in the July rain. She's moved on with new cities, jobs, friends and love interests, but Hunt hopes his former sweetheart is happy now and is really glad he knew her when he was 23. Hunt co-wrote this end-of-summer song with: Chris La Corte, who also produced the emotional track. Frequent collaborators Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne, whose other Sam Hunt compositions include "Body Like a Back Road," "Downtown's Dead," and "Hard to Forget." "Sam's whole thing on it was how precious that time actually is because you really only get it once, and you shared it with somebody," said Osborne to Billboard. "It feels like kind of a heavy concept in a light-sounding song, and that's always appealed to me." Released on September 9, 2021, Hunt first offered fans a taste of "23" back on July 14, 2020, when he shared an acoustic performance during the virtual 2020 Highway Finds Fest. The SiriusXM channel The Highway aired the festival three days later. Hunt used an early photo of his wife Hannah's aunt and uncle when they were a young couple for his single art. Sam Hunt, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne had previously tried to write a song called "22." When the three met up in Florida for a writing retreat, Hunt played a track that Chris LaCorte gave him in June 2020. His cowriters loved the sound, so Hunt suggested revisiting the "22" idea on the hook. I'll never be 22 with anyone but you McAnally pointed out that Taylor Swift already has a song called "22" and suggested changing the age. They also flipped the focus to the girl, making her a past love who's frozen in time, matching the vibe of LaCorte's music. You'll never be 23 with anyone but me Hunt recalled to Billboard: "Even having that track playing as sort of the background music to the conversation when we started talking about those times and being that age, all that imagery just really felt right." McAnally contributed the song's opening line: You can marry an architect Build you a house out on the water The lyric pays homage to McNally's favorite song, Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne" ("She said she's married her an architect") and to a former girlfriend who wed a builder. Sam Hunt had the idea for "23" for some time, but it wasn't until he, Shane McAnally and Josh Osborne went down to the Florida beach that the song finally came together. "That's one that I've had and tried to work up for several years. A lot of times you're just one word or one little change away from an idea turning into a song," he said. "We were down at the beach, we happened to be at the beach; that may have had something to do with it. We were down there and it's easier to tap into that nostalgia when you're at the beach, thinking back to trips you know from your youth. But who knows? But I'm glad that it worked out that day because we wrote it in probably two hours, which is pretty rare for me."

You can marry an architect
Build you a house out on the water
That really impresses your father, yeah
And you can find some grown up friends
Drink some wine in California
But even if you cut it shorter

You'll always have long blond hair
You'll always be Memphis queen
You'll always be my first time in New Orleans

No matter where I go, no matter what I do
I'll never be twenty-three with anyone but you
You can marry who you want
Go back to Tennessee
But you'll never be twenty-three with anyone but me
We'll always have Folly beach
We'll always have Delta nights
We'll always be in-between real love and real life

You can ride the train to work
Straighten out your accent in the city
Like your folks ain't from Mississippi, yeah
You probably got an office view
Wearing those skirts you always hated
Yeah, you're so sophisticated

But I bet you when you drink too much
I bet you think 'bout back when
I really hope you're happy now
I'm really glad I knew you then

No matter where I go, no matter what I do
I'll never be twenty-three with anyone but you
You can marry who you want
Go back to Tennessee
But you'll never be twenty-three with anyone but me
We'll always have Folly beach
We'll always have Delta nights
We'll always be in-between real love and real life, yeah

You'll always have your first last name
Standing in that July rain
Telling me your mind is changed
But in my mind you're still the same

Long blond hair (long blond hair)
You'll always be Memphis queen (Memphis queen)
You'll always be my first time (my first time) in New Orleans (yeah yeah)

No matter where I go, no matter what I do
I'll never be twenty-three with anyone but you (anyone but you)
You can marry who you want
Go back to Tennessee (yeah)
But you'll never be twenty-three with anyone but me