Thomas Rhett’s ‘Sixteen’ Is Another Reflection on His Blessed Life [Listen]
Thomas Rhett's new single, "Sixteen," isn't quite the circle of life song you might be expecting after the first verse. Put those tissue away — the 28-year-old's acoustic track is full of smiles.
"Sixteen" is his story, and he takes firm ownership with a biographical final verse. Until that point the Georgia-raised singer is all of us at 16, 18 and 21. Rhett looks back through the lens of time at 25, so his sense of nostalgia isn't quite as warm as an older man's would be, but the sentiment is sincere. We all rush to ratchet up responsibility until we get to a point when we fondly recall having less of it.
Rhett, Joe Spargur and Sean Douglas don't stray far from the No. 1 survey answers that come with memories of each of these benchmark birthdays. They're wishing they could drive, trying tobacco and enjoying the joys of drinking without the fear of an arrest or grounding in each new verse. One has to assume this fifth single from the Life Changes album will be the last.
Did You Know?: "Sixteen" is the second-straight single from Thomas Rhett that makes reference to his other singles, as "Life Changes" mentions "Die a Happy Man." The same trio of writers that penned "Die a Happy Man" wrote "Sixteen."
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Thomas Rhett, "Sixteen" Lyrics:
Take a left here boy, take it slow / Don't get distracted by that radio / I just rolled my eyes and I said, Daddy, I know / I'm fifteen, I ain't green like some ol' ten year old.
What I wouldn't give to be 16, wild and free / Cruisin' up and down Main in my F-150 / Roll the windows down, bass too loud from this burnt CD / I'll be right where I wanna be when I'm sixteen, sixteen / Sixteen, yeah.
Now that I can drive, finally feel alive, but I got this curfew / Sneakin' in late, smelling like my girlfriend's perfume / People talk about college and knowledge and that's alright / But all I'm thinkin' 'bout is an unsupervised Saturday night.
What I wouldn't give to be eighteen, wild and free / Buzzin' off a can of the Grizzly Wintergreen / Lookin' old enough to pull off this fake ID / I'll be right where I wanna be / When I'm eighteen, eighteen / Eighteen, yeah.
I'm old enough to smoke / I'm old enough to vote / But they turn me away when I go to the Cotton Eyed Joe / They say the grass is always greener / And I believe that's right / But my friends are off to Vegas, they're leavin' me behind.
What I wouldn't give to be twenty one, wild and free / Open up a cold one and drink it legally / Chase a bunch of girls, go see the world / Let my wild streak run / I'll be right where I wanna be / When I'm twenty one, twenty one / Woah, when I'm twenty one.
Now I'm twenty five and I'm drinking wine with my wife at home / Got a couple of dogs and a couple of songs on the radio / And we sit around and we laugh about how we used to be / When all we cared about was turning sixteen.