B-Side Guys

Some songs arrive with perfect seasonal timing. Rebecca Haviland and Whiskey Heart’s “Fourth of July,” released just as spring begins to hint at summer possibilities, invites listeners into a meditation on love’s evolution across different Independence Days and distinctive American geographies.

The first single from Haviland’s forthcoming EP “Early Mornings” (releasing May 2025) displays remarkable narrative architecture, using three separate Fourth of July celebrations as emotional waypoints. Beginning with a view from the Triboro Bridge against New York City’s skyline, the track establishes both literal and metaphorical perspectives—the height of expectation against the sprawl of reality.

Production choices reflect the song’s dual nature as both memory piece and present reflection. The ethereal keyboard sounds Haviland created by routing a vintage Casiotone through her electric guitar pedalboard provide perfect atmospheric foundation for the emotional archeology she conducts. These sonic textures, combined with Whiskey Heart’s restrained instrumentation, create space for Haviland’s vocals to move between reminiscence and revelation.

The lyrics construct emotional chronology through vivid vignettes—first the metropolitan skyline with “heat lightning streaks without a sound,” then the transitional scene of “playing cards all night til the sunrise” with “mariachi bands,” and finally landing in “Upstate New York” where “fireflies glow.” These settings function as both literal locations and emotional states, tracking the narrator’s journey toward finding authentic connection.

Most affecting is the chorus acknowledgment that “Sometimes the best things fall apart/Sometimes who we are is not our fault.” This reflection avoids both bitterness and sentimentality, instead offering a mature recognition that timing and circumstance often override compatibility. The resilient conclusion that former lovers “still have a piece of my heart” transforms what could be tragic into something approaching grace.

As Haviland explained, this track represents a fusion of two separate songs written at different times—a compositional history that perfectly mirrors its thematic exploration of how seemingly disconnected experiences eventually reveal their coherence. Just as the song finds the right relationship arriving after multiple false starts, the song itself required patience to reach its final form.

“Fourth of July” serves as perfect introduction to the “more grounded, rock ‘n’ roll/americana spirit” that will characterize “Early Mornings,” the companion to November 2024’s “Late Nights” EP. Together, these releases promise to document the complete emotional cycle of urban nightlife and morning-after reflection.