2017Released
3:29

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Vacation. By Songfacts®.

The Dirty Heads' upbeat single "Vacation," featured on the California reggae-rock band's sixth studio album, is built on the notion that if you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life. Jared Watson, the band's co-lead vocalist, got the idea for the song while he was walking his dogs and contemplating the happy life he'd built for himself with the band. It took a lot of hard work both professionally and personally (he had to overcome addictions to alcohol and Vicodin) to achieve success, and he wanted to encourage fans to find their own path to happiness. "As long as you're doing what you love, you can't really ask for more," he explained in a 2017 radio interview. "If you aren't in that spot, there's nothing holding you back from changing that and going and making that happen. And we're proof of that."

This went viral on TikTok in 2021 thanks to the "Vacation Challenge" that has users sneezing their way into a vacay with the song playing in the background. Watson picked up on the #vacationtransition trend in February 2021 in a clip of him sneezing into his arm and being transported onstage performing the tune. The challenge, which garnered over a billion views on TikTok, increased the song's streams by over 40% across all digital platforms, and boosted the band's profile internationally.

Thanks to renewed interest in the song, the band recorded a new version with Train in 2021. The accompanying music video features performance footage spliced with clips from the TikTok challenge. Train frontman Pat Monahan was eager to jump on the track, saying, "My whole family has loved this song since it came out. Getting a chance to sing on it was really cool for all of us, and I think it made me a much cooler human."

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Vacation.
G♯Key
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
150BPM

Album

The album Vacation is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Vacation.
Five Seven Music
2017 Five Seven Music
2017 Five Seven Music

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