August in Bloomington

Verse 1

We were twenty-two and sunburned With a month before the fall You were working nights on Kirkwood I was barely working at all We’d split a beer behind your apartment Where the porch leaned to the right And swear we’d never turn into The people saying time flies

You knew every street by shortcuts I knew every shirt you owned There was nowhere we were going That we couldn’t walk back home

Pre-Chorus

God, we thought we had forever Just because we had nowhere to be

Chorus

It was August in Bloomington Windows down, your hand in mine Heat still hanging after midnight Cicadas keeping time You kissed me underneath a streetlight Like we’d invented being young I didn’t know a place could hold somebody Long after they were gone But I can’t drive through Bloomington Without turning twenty-two

Verse 2

I went back there on a Tuesday Hadn’t planned to stay that long The record store was still there But the diner we loved was gone Somebody painted your old doorway That terrible shade of blue And two kids were drinking on the porch Like we used to do

I almost wanted to tell them That they’re gonna miss this place But you can’t explain nostalgia To somebody still making it

Pre-Chorus

So I kept walking down the sidewalk Past a life that wasn’t mine

Chorus

Back to August in Bloomington Windows down, your hand in mine Heat still hanging after midnight Cicadas keeping time You kissed me underneath a streetlight Like we’d invented being young I didn’t know a place could hold somebody Long after they were gone But I can’t drive through Bloomington Without turning twenty-two

Bridge

I don’t want you back That’s the strangest part I don’t miss your apartment Or your beat-up car

I miss who I was When I loved you then Before every good thing Had an ending built in

Maybe that’s what I’ve been missing Maybe it was never you

Final Chorus

Just August in Bloomington Bare feet on the dashboard Rain coming through the windows And us not caring anymore

Your head against my shoulder The whole damn summer still to come Back when every road led somewhere And we had nowhere we had to run

Now the trees are turning early And there’s nothing left to prove But I can’t drive through Bloomington Without turning twenty-two

Outro

For a minute at the stoplight I could almost hear you laugh Then somebody honked behind me And just like that— I’m back.