Rewind

Album: Rewind (2014)
Charted: 38
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Songfacts®:

  • Rather than relying on Dann Huff, who produced their five previous albums, the Rascal Flatts trio decided it was time to change direction and helm some of their tunes themselves. "Rewind" was recorded at bassist Jay DeMarcus's studio and was the first Rascal Flatts song to be released with the group themselves credited as the producers.
  • The song was written by Chris DeStefano, Ashley Gorley, and Eric Paslay. The lyrics are about a night that the narrator would like to repeat again:

    "Untouch your skin
    Unkiss your lips and kiss 'em again
    This is one night
    That I wish I could rewind."

    The first single from the country trio's ninth album, DeMarcus said at a press party to mark the song's release that it is a, "good way to bridge the gap between familiar Rascal Rlatts and a new era of Rascal Flatts."
  • Jay DeMarcus told Radio.com that he was the first member of the trio to hear the song during a pitch meeting in Nashville. "When I heard it, it just jumped out of the speakers. The chorus was so catchy and hooky," he said. "Especially the middle of it, 'So you can let it fall one more time.' I took it and played it for the guys and they felt the same way. We went in and cut it and I think it turned out better than we expected. It's a great song and we're proud of it."
  • The single's release coincided with songwriter and artist Eric Paslay dropping his eponymous debut album. He admitted: "The wild thing is, I wrote the song and I love the song. If I didn't have an album out, I would have loved to see if the other writers would have let me record it."

    Paslay added that he is elated with Rascal Flatts take on the song: "They told me there that it was going to be their lead off single of this new album. I'm just thrilled to death. For them to record a song is just amazing," he said. "They did such a great job. It sounds awesome on the radio too, so I'm pumped for them, and I'm glad we wrote a good song that's getting heard."
  • The Rascal Flatts trio said they would like rewind moments in their career, this time with more purpose. "I wish we could rewind remembering some of the special moments 'cause it went by so fast," Gary LeVox reflected. "If we could rewind and maybe slow it down a little bit so that we could have enjoyed some of the moments that flew past us. I would rewind that."

    "I wish someone could've pulled us over to the side and said, 'Take a couple deep breaths and enjoy this and hold on to these moments because they'll be gone before you know it,'" Jay DeMarcus added.
  • Director Mason Dixon, who helmed clips for Jake Owen and Jason Aldean, brought his love of analog technology to the music video, where the protagonist uses a cassette tape (remember those?) to rewind the best moments of his relationship. The band loved the concept, but the record label wasn't sold on the idea of outdated tech. Dixon recalled in a Songfacts interview: "The powers that be were saying, 'Well, could it be on an iPod or something like that?' and we're just like, 'You can't rewind an iPod, it's got to be the tape.'"

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