Thomas Rhett’s ‘Remember You Young’ Was Almost A Completely Different Song

Thomas Rhett is sitting at the top of both the Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase Airplay charts this week with his…

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Lauren Jo Black

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December 17, 2019

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Thomas Rhett; Photo by John Shearer

Thomas Rhett is sitting at the top of both the Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase Airplay charts this week with his latest single, “Remember You Young.” Written by Rhett alongside Jesse Frasure and Ashley Gorley, the track marks the superstar’s 14th chart-topping single.

The emotional tune has resonated with fans far and wide, but what many don’t know is that it was originally written as an entirely different song.

“The first way we wrote it was strictly about the person that you’re with,” the superstar recently revealed. “We wrote an entire song about, you know, I’ll always remember you, even when you’re in a black cocktail dress, I remember you in your pink prom dress. It’s like you always envision who you’re with when you met that person because those images are just ingrained in your head, and you’re always young together even if you’re old, at least you hope you are.”

After the song was complete, Rhett decided it didn’t come out the way he wanted it to, so he and his co-writers soon got back together to re-write the song.

“I think all of us were kind of like, ‘I think we just missed where we should’ve gone with the song,’” he explained. “So a couple of weeks later – this never happens – usually when you write a song you’re just like, ‘Okay, well we kind of missed that one, we’ll move on.’ We all really felt like ‘Remember You Young’ was too cool of a title to just let a song kind of go by the wayside. And so we were like, ‘Let’s get back together and really just re-approach these verses.’”

That’s when the song became what it is today.

“Then we started to really just relate it to life as a whole like it’s really just about those people in your life that you love, always just seeing them in their youth,” he said. “And God, this song, like even just talking about it makes me want to cry, and this is definitely one of my favorite tracks on the record.”

“Remember You Young”  is the second single from Rhett’s latest album, Center Point Roadwhich debuted atop the Billboard 200 upon its release in May. The album also made history when it was released, earning the biggest streaming debut for a country album ever. Center Point Road is currently nominated for Best Country Album for the 62nd Grammy Awards.

In 2020, Rhett will embark on his Center Point Road Tour with special guests Cole Swindell and HARDY.

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Lauren Jo Black

Written by

Lauren Jo Black

Lauren Jo Black, a University of Central Florida graduate, has immersed herself in the world of country music for over 15 years. In 2008, she co-founded CountryMusicIsLove, eventually selling it to a major record label in 2015. Following the rebranding of the website to Sounds Like Nashville, Black served as Editor-in-Chief for two and a half years. Currently, she assumes the role of Editor-in-Chief at Country Now and oversees Country Now’s content and digital footprint. Her extensive experience also encompasses her previous role as a Country Music Expert Writer for Answers.com and her work being featured on Forbes.com. She’s been spotlighted among Country Aircheck’s Women of Influence and received the 2012 Rising Star Award from the University of Central Florida. Black also spent time in front of the camera as host of Country Now Live, which brought live music directly to fans in 2021 when the majority of concerts were halted due to the pandemic. During this time, she hosted 24 weeks of live concerts via Country Now Live on Twitch with special guests such as Lady A, Dierks Bentley, Jordan Davis, Brett Young, and Jon Pardi. Over the course of her career, she has had the privilege of conducting interviews with some of the industry’s most prominent stars, including Reba McEntire, Blake Shelton, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and many others. Lauren Jo Black is a longtime member of the Country Music Association and the Academy of Country Music.