Center Point Road

“I am a really nostalgic person, even though I am only 29 years old,” Thomas Rhett tells Apple Music. And the country star's fourth album bears that out, from its title—the road Rhett grew up on—on down to deeply personal songs about his adolescence and his relationship with his wife, and even a love song dedicated to his first truck. But don't take our word for it—ride along as Rhett goes through the stories behind each track on the album.

“Up”
“I wrote this song with the same guys I wrote 'Unforgettable' and 'Marry Me' with, and it is basically about how you can’t expect to experience real highs in life if you haven’t also experienced the lows. The choir on this song is one my favorite things on the whole album, and I feel uplifted every time I hear them.”

“Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time”
“I think everyone knows what a huge Bruno Mars fan I am. I wrote this song with a production team called The Stereotypes, who wrote a number of the songs on Bruno’s 24K Magic album, as well as with Karen Fairchild from Little Big Town. This is one of the most fun songs we get to play live, and having Little Big Town on a song with me has been a bucket list thing for a long time.”

“Blessed”
“I love '50s-style doo-wop music, thanks to my grandmother exposing me to bands like The Drifters when I was a kid. That background definitely influenced songs like 'Sweetheart' on my last album, and you could kind of consider this song a sister song to that track. People always tell me how lucky I am to have met my wife Lauren, and I really don’t like the word ‘lucky.’ I feel truly blessed to have her in my life, and this song is about that.”

“Look What God Gave Her”
“This is basically a song about thanking God for the amazing women in our lives. To me, it’s a celebration of all the things that make someone beautiful on the inside and the outside.”

“Center Point Road”
“I am a sucker for any movie that is about high school or college days, and this song kind of encapsulates the feeling of those times and roots it on Center Point Road, where I grew up and had so many of these life experiences. I’ve wanted to collaborate on a song with Kelsea Ballerini for a long time, and this one was just the perfect fit. We both had similar upbringings and could both really relate to the sentiment behind this song.”

“That Old Truck”
“This is a love song about my first vehicle. People laugh when I say that, but I mean it sincerely. I spent more time with that truck than I probably did with any human being. It saw me grow, saw me fall in love, saw me get my heart broken—it's impossible for me to sit behind the wheel of it and not have all these memories of my 16-year-old self come flooding back. If Center Point Road is the common thread that ties this album together, that truck was my constant companion as I navigated Center Point Road from one end to the other.”

“VHS”
“There is no hidden agenda to this one. It’s just a super fun, funky, uptempo summer jam that hopefully takes you to a beach in your mind when you hear it. I wrote this one with Amy Wadge, with whom I also wrote 'Center Point Road.' Amy is an incredible writer, probably most well-known for writing songs like 'Thinking Out Loud' and 'Castle on the Hill' with Ed Sheeran.”

“Notice”
“I feel like I took a much deeper dive with the love songs on this album. You could be forgiven for thinking mine and my wife’s relationship is all butterflies and rainbows because of songs like 'Die a Happy Man' and 'Unforgettable'; this song hopefully lets you know that we have the same issues as any other couple, where life occasionally conspires to make us feel disconnected or like we’re not quite tracking with each other. Ultimately, it’s a reminder that we’re so connected we are actually seeing things that no one else sees, and that’s what is important.”

“Sand”
“I wrote this song with another country artist, Michael Hardy, who is doing great right now, and one of my producers, Jesse Frasure, who I have written a lot of my songs with over the years. I love deep songs that make you cry and make you think, but equally I love having a good time and forgetting about your worries. This song ticks that last box and is just about taking you to another place in your mind and letting you chill out for a few minutes.”

“Beer Can't Fix”
“This song was written with OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder and my producer Julian Bunetta, the same guys I wrote 'That Old Truck' with, on the exact same day. The idea came out of Julian and I playing a terrible game of golf and deciding to crack open a couple of beers instead. Suddenly, we started playing much better golf, and Julian said something along the lines of 'I guess there ain’t nothing a beer can’t fix,' and we both looked at each other and said, 'We have to write that.'”

“Things You Do for Love”
“I have had this title in my phone since about 2015, but didn’t know where to take it until I was in a writing session one day with Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird, and Josh Osborne and it suddenly clicked. Simply put, the song is about how there is nothing you won’t do for the person you love, whether it’s a simple gesture that you know will mean a lot to them, or you changing your whole life around to support them as they chase their dreams.”

“Remember You Young”
“This is the song that, when we wrote it, became the anchor for the whole record to me. Center Point Road is about nostalgia, and this song is about capturing those moments in time and always seeing individuals through that lens. I still hang out with my high school buddies, and no matter how old we get, I am always going to see them as the same 16-year-old guys I went through so many of my life experiences with. The same is true of my wife, and now has taken on a whole new dimension with my kids.”

“Don't Stop Drivin'”
“I had a song on my album Life Changes called 'Renegades' that tapped into my love of Tom Petty, and this song does the same thing on this album. I wrote this knowing I wanted to play it in my live show at some point, and in the short term it makes me want to roll my windows down and just drive somewhere, just for the sake of driving and blasting it out of the speakers.”

“Barefoot”
“My dad had the idea for this song when he was at one of my shows and he saw a woman who had basically taken off her shoes and created her own dance floor, and didn’t care who was watching. It immediately reminded me of my wife and how if we’re out at a wedding or something and her song comes on, she’s heading for the dance floor.”

“Dream You Never Had”
“This is one of the hardest songs I have written, because it’s always difficult as an artist to write about being an artist without feeling like no one will be able to relate to it. But I think this song transcends the specifics of whatever it is we all do for a living or what kind of lives we lead. It’s a song about the sacrifice present, I think, in every relationship, where one partner gives so much of themselves to support the dreams of the other. It’s super personal to my story with my wife, but I have been blown away by how many people from all different walks of life have found their own stories inside of it.”

“Almost”
“This is my ‘sliding doors song,' to paraphrase Brené Brown. This is about all the successes and failures that forced me left instead of right, and vice versa, and brought me to exactly where I am today, and how I wouldn’t change any of them for the world.”