“Vacation” by Thomas Rhett
Thomas Rhett’s “Vacation” does not, as implied by its title, feature the vocalist partaking in an exotic trip. Rather, as he puts it, he and his crew are ‘partying like they’re on vacation’. This is actually a practice he is also encouraging in the listener, i.e. positivity thinking with a party-oriented slant. Or as Rhett himself has explained this piece, the purpose – as with any traditional party song really – is to inspire partakers to let loose.
But in this case, it wouldn’t be in the dancing sense, as normally presented in tracks of such sentiment. Instead, the vocalist is like grab the one you love as well as your homeys and basically lively up the corner of the world where you are.
In other words, the setting you’re currently situated in, in the name of chillin’, isn’t what’s important. In fact in the chorus, Thomas reveals that he’s in Decatur, which is an inconspicuous city found in Georgia. But in terms of his mindframe, he’s going all out as if he’s rather in the tropics, even spending the “couple bucks” in possession carefreely, as if they were relatively-worthless foreign currency.
So yes, as with other party songs this one is also putting forth that being able to enjoy yourself in a communal setting is by and large a matter of mindstate. But unlike others, which tend rely on external factors to achieve such a state, here the vocalist is putting forth that sometimes he puts the onus on his own psyche to do so.
When did Thomas Rhett release “Vacation”?
“Vacation” is a song Thomas Rhett dropped, through Valory Music (i.e. Big Machine Records), on 25 September 2015. It is part of his second LP, “Tangled Up”. Unlike most of his other singles, this one did not achieve number one status on Billboard’s Country Airplay ranking. But it still managed to achieve platinum certification via the RIAA in 2020. Also, it topped another Billboard list, that being the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles.
Credits
There is a significant number of other credited writers of this song beside Thomas Rhett. And they are:
- Thomas Allen
- Axident
- Harold Brown
- B. B. Dickerson (1949-2021)
- Sean Douglas
- Gerry Goldstein
- Lonnie Jordan
- Joe London
- Charles Miller (1939-1980)
- Lee Oskar
- Ricky Reed
- Howard Scott
And the producers of “Vacation” are Dan Huff and Jesse Frasure.
The aforenoted Allen, Brown, Dickerson, Goldstein, Jordan, Miller, Oskar and Scott are credited due to the fact that “Vacation” interpolates a 1975 hit they wrote, which is “Low Rider” by War. However, said interpolation is not officially acknowledged, with the reason being that Thomas Rhett and co. did not do so knowingly. But when they did realize the similarities between the two tracks, they made a wise decision – all things considered – and formally included those aforenoted writers as also contributing to “Vacation”.
TK McKamy directed the music video to this track (as well as that of “Die a Happy Man”, another single from “Tangled Up”). The visual was filmed while Thomas Rhett and his ilk were literally out vacationing in Hawaii and conducting themselves accordingly. And as such, it was recorded, according to Rhett, using portable devices, “on an iPhone and a GoPro”.
