'Broken Hearts Still Beat' by Lainey Wilson – Lyrics & Meaning

After releasing her blockbuster sophomore record, Bell Bottom Country, in 2022, Lainey Wilson has been a permanent fixture atop the upper echelons of country music. By the time she started teasing her 2024 follow-up, Whirlwind, all eyes have been locked on the genre's leading lady with each new single she's sprinkled out.

With the full record finally out into the world, Wilson shares the highs, lows and in betweens she's experienced since her last album, taking the shape of 14 songs about life, love and her career at large.

Throughout her discography up to this point, the Louisiana native has rarely sang about love in a positive light. While Whirlwind finds Wilson quite smitten on several of the tunes, the second track, 'Broken Hearts Still Beat,' shows some of the things she's learned through her experiences with love.

Starting with Wilson's isolated vocals, the decorated entertainer is backed by a simple, resounding piano as she croons into the mic. With some welcomed reverb hugging the lines, a tambourine joins in and before you know it, it's a slow-rolling ballad about the power we can find within ourselves.

As the sound of a steady heartbeat thumps in the background, the rest of the band fills in during the second verse, the energy picks up for the bridge as the heart's pulsations become more intense and concentrated before falling away and stripping everything back.

Like the rest of the album, Wilson's trusty producer, Jay Joyce, is at the helm of 'Broken Hearts Still Beat,' which was written by Wilson, Dallas Wilson, Josh Thompson & Blake Pendergrass.

"Old trucks don’t run if they got no gas in it
Can’t play a popped flat top string
What’s a pasture with no green grass in it
A song bird with no song to sing

Cup won’t buzz without a little sour mash in it
Can’t pray a prayer without Amen
Work don’t work without ya back in it
Flat tires they don’t spin"

Wilson opens the song by explaining that, with many things in life, they can't perform their desired function or fulfill their intended use if they don't have the resources they need.

For instance, a truck needs gas to run, a guitar needs sturdy strings, a pasture needs green grass, a prayer needs an Amen and so on. It's setting the stage for the topic she'll go into for the chorus, as well as the song's title.

"But broken hearts still beat
And that’s what you showed me
I thought if you’d ever let me go
That’d be the end of the end of my rope
It ain’t good as new
And boy thanks to you
It may never be the way it used to be
But broken hearts still beat"

While all of the things in the first verse need specific things to work properly, Wilson proudly declares that "broken hearts" will "still beat" despite their tattered state. She explains that the one who did the heart breaking is the one that showed her this simple truth.

Even though she thought her ex hung the stars in the sky and that she couldn't live without him, because of what he put her through, she now understands that she doesn't need him to be whole.

Though her heart may be dinged up, the 'Heart Like A Truck' hitmaker is still standing strong, despite the hell her old flame has put her ole heart through.

"My smiles got a little bit less ear to ear in it
Bed’s got a little more room
Fridge has got a little more beer in it
Now that there’s no you
And even though it’s black and blue"

Describing some of the changes that she's felt since he left her – her smile isn't as beaming, her bed's not as full and there's a little more beer housed in the fridge – she underlines that she's still soldering on while her heart mends itself.

"Still ticking still kicking still breathing
Still pumping still running still dreaming
Thought it might stop when ya tore off leaving
Guess it took that to see"

Now that she's a little removed from their falling out, Wilson is stronger than ever. While she originally thought she wouldn't be able to go on if he left, she's still kicking and following her dreams.

"Broken hearts still beat
And that’s what you showed me
I thought if you’d ever let me go
That’d be the end of the end of my rope
It ain’t good as new
And boy thanks to you
It may never be the way it used to be
But broken hearts still beat
Broken hearts still beat"

While nothing has been shared specifically about 'Broken Hearts Still Beat,' Wilson has been open about the fact that this new project has been a major source of solace and self-discovery over the last few years as she's seen her life completely change while her career has skyrocketed.

Weaving together the highs, lows and in-betweens that she's experienced along the way, her signature storytelling is front and center across the project, which she explains has been in the works essentially since the release of Bell Bottom Country in October of 2022.

“This album has been a long time coming, and I can’t wait for the world to have this body of work in their hands soon,” Wilson noted when announcing the highly-anticipated project. “This new chapter of music is the most cathartic and personal piece of art I’ve ever made. I hope this record brings some peace to your whirlwind and wraps its arms around you like it did for me.”

Expanding on these sentiments, the decorated entertainer also added: "Writing & recording these 14 songs over the past couple of years has helped me stay grounded in ways you’d never believe. This album brought me back to my roots and made me feel at home during times when I couldn’t have been further away and my biggest hope is that it gives you that same sense of comfort that it has for me."

Old trucks don’t run if they got no gas in it
Can’t play a popped flat top string
What’s a pasture with no green grass in it
A song bird with no song to sing

Cup won’t buzz without a little sour mash in it
Can’t pray a prayer without Amen
Work don’t work without ya back in it
Flat tires they don’t spin

But broken hearts still beat
And that’s what you showed me
I thought if you’d ever let me go
That’d be the end of the end of my rope
It ain’t good as new
And boy thanks to you
It may never be the way it used to be
But broken hearts still beat

My smiles got a little bit less ear to ear in it
Bed’s got a little more room
Fridge has got a little more beer in it
Now that there’s no you
And even though it’s black and blue

Broken hearts still beat
And that’s what you showed me
I thought if you'd ever let me go
That’d be the end of the end of my rope
It ain’t good as new
And boy thanks to you
It may never be the way it used to be
But broken hearts still beat

Still ticking still kicking still breathing
Still pumping still running still dreaming
Thought it might stop when ya tore off leaving
Guess it took that to see

Broken hearts still beat
And that’s what you showed me
I thought if you’d ever let me go
That’d be the end of the end of my rope
It ain’t good as new
And boy thanks to you
It may never be the way it used to be
But broken hearts still beat
Broken hearts still beat

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