If you pay attention to the lyrics of Thomas Rhett’s latest top-20 hit, “What’s Your Country Song,” you’ll notice that he and his co-writers cleverly weave in some country song references from artists like Alan Jackson, Florida Georgia Line, Merle Haggard, Alabama, Garth Brooks, Jake Owen, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait and many others, and Thomas says, “It was really interesting the way that we started to progress the song. I actually threw one of my dad’s song titles, ‘That Ain’t My Truck,’ in the second verse. So, we picked a lot of songs that I feel like really shaped me as an artist, and put those into the verses.”
One thing Thomas and his co-writers – his dad Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley and Parker Welling – wanted to do, was weave the song titles together in a way that they didn’t overshadow the message of the song. “Hopefully when the listener’s listening, they don’t really hear the song titles,” says Thomas, “but it sounds more like a story. And the more they listen to the song, I hope they can kinda go through and be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love that song. I love that song.’ But also, wantin’ them to make their own interpretation of the song.”
Whether or not a certain song referenced in “What’s Your Country Song” sparks a memory for the listener, Thomas says his goal was to get the listener thinking and asking, “‘Man, what were my songs that kind of defined my life? What songs did I hear on the radio that, when I hear ‘em today as a 30 year old or a 40 year old, it makes me feel 17 again?’”
Considering “What’s Your Country Song” is already sitting in the top 12 on the charts, less than 10 weeks after it was released, it’s safe to say listeners are definitely connecting with the song.
Listen for “What’s Your Country Song” by Thomas Rhett on Bloomington-Normal’s #1 Country, B104.
