Released July 26, 1994 Recorded 1994 Length 3:01 | Format CD single Genre Country | |
B-side "You Never Know Just How Good You've Got It" | ||
"Watermelon Crawl" is a song written by Buddy Brock and Zack Turner, and recorded by American country music artist Tracy Byrd. It was released in August 1994 as the second single from his album No Ordinary Man. The song peaked at number 4 in the United States and number 8 in Canada. A dance remix of the song was released and crossed over to pop radio, where it peaked at number 81 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.
Contents
Content
The song chronicles the adventure of the narrator at a small town in Georgia where a watermelon festival is taking place. The featured item at this festival is red wine made from the watermelons grown in the area. The mayor urges people to abide by the law and asks them not to drive if they have been drinking; instead, they should do a dance called "The Watermelon Crawl."
The lyrics describe the sign for a watermelon festival: "I saw a homemade sign written in red, 'Rhine County Watermelon Festival ahead'". The town of Rhine, Georgia is in Dodge County. If you add punctuation, the sign could be understood to read "Rhine - County Watermelon Festival ahead", meaning that ahead, in the town of Cordele, Georgia (which is in Crisp County), the county's Watermelon Festival is taking place. Cordele is approx 35 miles from Rhine. So the song likely refers to the annual Watermelon Days Festival in Crisp County, Georgia which started in 1949.
Music video
The music video was directed by Michael Merriman and features Byrd getting off of his tour bus in the Georgia town for the watermelon festival. Scenes also feature Byrd singing the song. The video was recorded in McEwen, Tennessee, at the Irish Picnic Fairgrounds.