'First Love' by Thelma & James – Lyrics & Meaning

Since making waves with their debut single ‘Happy Ever After You’, country starlet MacKenzie Porter and indie-pop composer Jake Etheridge – better known, now, as the duo Thelma & James – have been promising that much more is still to come from their new musical partnership.

On Friday (Mar. 14), they made good on that promise, finally releasing their long-teased ballad, 'First Love.' Their sophomore song arrives not long after their first exploded across social media, earning the husband-and-wife duo an influx of fans and giving them a reason to continue crafting their brand of intimate, heart-worn hits.

Where ‘Happy Ever After You’ aches with time-tested heartache, the delicate 'First Love' dazzles with deep affection, the song a throat-tightening plea for a love that outlives the rest.

Like many of the Thelma & James offerings that Porter and Etheridge have been teasing in recent weeks, 'First Love' is a simple acoustic number, brought to life with the thump of muted strings and set alight with the pair's enchanting vocals.

While the chorus is fitted with a few more ambient tones, perhaps the crisp pull from a banjo here and the faraway cry of a fiddle there, the tune doesn't stray far from its straight-forward composition. Its simplicity is where 'First Love' shines.

One, two, three

There's creamer on the counter, and there’s coffee on the stove
You take a real short shower so the water don’t run cold
You crank up the car and scrape the windshield when it snows
I outkicked my coverage and it’s weird you don’t think so

Not only is the arrangement simple, but so is the love that unfolds in 'First Love'.

The song captures a romantic relationship in all of its delightful mundanity, setting an early morning scene where small actions like making coffee, taking short showers and scraping ice from car windows become beautiful acts of love.

There's nothing grandiose or inherently passionate taking place here, but it's these little gestures that portray a love so big.

Porter and Etheridge reveal that, while this may not be their first go at being in love – in the chorus, they croon: "You’re not the first 'I love you' that I’ve said or I’ve been told" – it is their first time fearing what happens at the end of it all, singing "But you’re the first that has me getting scared of getting old."

Neither of them can bear to think about living without the other; and so, together, they lilt: "Yeah it’s the first time I’m pretty sure I’d rather die than give you up / When we’re in our eighties I hope He takes me first, love."

I hear you singing in the kitchen, watch you dancin’ in bare feet
You call to say “I miss you” soon as I pull off our street
I couldn’t paint you better even if I was Van Gogh
Punchin’ way out of my weight class and it’s weird you don’t think so

Again, a dazzling simplicity ensues as the two continue to paint an unadorned, but still deeply impactful, kind of relationship full of kitchen songs and "I miss you" calls.

It's that kind of love that many say only comes around once in a lifetime, a love that even life itself couldn't halt.

You’re not the first “I love you” that I’ve said or I’ve been told
But you’re the first that has me getting scared of getting old
Yeah it’s the first time I’m pretty sure I’d rather die than give you up
When we’re in our eighties I hope He takes me first, love

Porter and Etheridge have been consistently teasing 'First Love' across Thelma & James social media pages, but have shared little about the new track until recently.

“This song is just about loving someone so much you don’t wanna live one day without them,” Porter and Etheridge described in a statement. “We wrote the lyrics in a really simplistic ‘everyday’ kind of way. To us that simple kind of love is the best kind. Our first song ‘Happy Ever After You’ was one of heartbreak and this is its counterpart.”

One, two, three

There's creamer on the counter, and there’s coffee on the stove
You take a real short shower so the water don’t run cold
You crank up the car and scrape the windshield when it snows
I outkicked my coverage and it’s weird you don’t think so

You’re not the first “I love you” that I’ve said or I’ve been told
But you’re the first that has me getting scared of getting old
Yeah it’s the first time I’m pretty sure I’d rather die than give you up
When we’re in our eighties I hope He takes me first, love
Mmm

I hear you singing in the kitchen, watch you dancin’ in bare feet
You call to say “I miss you” soon as I pull off our street
I couldn’t paint you better even if I was Van Gogh
Punchin’ way out of my weight class and it’s weird you don’t think so

You’re not the first “I love you” that I’ve said or I’ve been told
But you’re the first that has me getting scared of getting old
Yeah it’s the first time I’m pretty sure I’d rather die than give you up
When we’re in our eighties I hope He takes me first, love
Mmm

Just a simple prayer, I got
Mmm
‘Cause if you’re gone my world would stop

You’re not the first “I love you” that I’ve said or I’ve been told
But you’re the first that has me getting scared of getting old
Yeah it’s the first time I’m pretty sure I’d rather die than give you up
When we’re in our eighties I hope He takes me first, love
Mmm
Mmm

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