"Angels (Don't Always Have Wings)", originally known as just "Angels", is a song by American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
singer
Thomas Rhett
Thomas Rhett Akins Jr. (born March 30, 1990) is an American country music, country singer-songwriter. He is the oldest son of singer Rhett Akins.
Rhett has released seven studio albums for Big Machine Records' Valory Music imprint: ''It Goes ...
. It was released on January 23, 2023 as the third single from his sixth studio album ''
Where We Started''.
History
"Angels (Don't Always Have Wings)" was a co-write among Thomas Rhett,
Josh Thompson,
Julian Bunetta
Julian Collin Bunetta (born 1982 or 1983) is an American songwriter, record producer, mixing engineer, and
audio engineer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is known for his work with various artists including One Direction, Niall Horan, Thomas Rhett, ...
, and
Teddy Swims
Jaten Collin Dimsdale (born September 25, 1992), known professionally as Teddy Swims, is an American singer and songwriter. Known for creating genre-blending music, which include elements of soul, country, and pop, Swims originally began to att ...
. Rhett decided on writing a song about angels after reading a book on them, and came up with the title phrase "angels don't always have wings", which he thought could describe his wife. He presented the idea to Thompson, Swims, and Bunetta at a songwriting session. The four came up with a
waltz
The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...
melody to which they set the song's central idea. Lyrically, the song is about a "mess of a man" who describes his wife as an angel. Originally, Rhett had intended for Swims to sing the song, but after hearing the
demo with Swims' vocals, decided to keep it for himself.
Dann Huff
Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer, studio guitarist, and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004 ...
produced the song's final recording. Rhett recorded the vocals at his home studio, compiling the final vocal track from nearly 70 takes due to him having difficulty singing
falsetto
Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave.
It is produced by the vibration of the ...
and wanting to show "emotion". Bunetta then remixed Huff's production by changing the bass and drum lines while adding studio effects to the piano.
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
{{Thomas Rhett
2022 songs
2023 singles
Big Machine Records singles
Thomas Rhett songs
Songs written by Thomas Rhett
Songs written by Julian Bunetta
Songs written by Josh Thompson (singer)
Song recordings produced by Dann Huff