Thomas Rhett's "Sixteen" is an exceptionally well-written song that takes a potentially familiar theme and turns it around in the most unexpected way.

The newly-released instant grat track from Rhett's upcoming Life Changes album casts the singer as a 15-year-old who's learning to drive, but itching to get out from under the watchful eye of his father, singing, "I'll be right where I want to be when I'm sixteen."

The song progresses along those lines, with the narrator wishing he was 18 when he's sixteen, and then lamenting that he's "old enough to smoke, old enough to vote," but not old enough to legally drink a beer when he does turn 18.

"They say the grass is always greener / And I believe that's right," Rhett sings in the chorus of "Sixteen." But by the end of the song, the singer has learned some important lessons about staying in the moment. Rhett brings the "Sixteen" lyrics back around to his own life by closing, “Now I’m 25 and I’m drinkin’ wine with my wife at home / Got a couple dogs and a couple songs on the radio /  And we sit around and we laugh about how we used to be / When all we cared about was turning 16.”

Listen to Thomas Rhett's "Sixteen"

"Sixteen" is a perfect example of the kind of themes that inspired Rhett to title his much-anticipated third solo album Life Changes. He says many of the tracks address the changes that have come his way since getting out of college, getting married to wife Lauren and launching his career — especially since the couple adopted daughter Willa Gray in May and learned they are expecting a biological daughter.

The title song, "Life Changes," was very much inspired along those lines.

“It’s kind of about my daughter and it’s kinda about a lot of things,” Rhett tells Taste of Country. “Basically it goes from me being in college to me being here now and how drastically my life has changed in the last five or six years. And Willa being a huge part of that.”

Life Changes is set for release on Sept. 8. The album’s first single, a duet with Maren Morristitled “Craving You,” has already reached No. 1. The second single from the album is "Unforgettable."

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