Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's on her most famous song

"Vacation" is a song written entirely from the heart, every word from a true feeling. I wrote the lyrics first, on an airplane napkin flying from Austin to LA. The Textones recorded it for England's Chiswick Records. When the Go-Go's began looking for new material, I showed it to Charlotte, who thought it was a great fit, but that it needed to say the title, "Vacation" in the chorus. I agreed! I still remember writing the chorus together in my friend Robin's apartment on Poinsettia, where I was staying. We played it live a few times before starting the recording of our second record. It turned out to be the title track of the album, the inspiration for the artwork, and the first single! I consider it my signature song and best contribution to the Go-Go's catalog.-- @kathy.valentine #thegogos #kathyvalentine #vacation #gogos4rockhall

A post shared by Go-Go's (@officialgogos) on Aug 1, 2018 at 6:53pm PDT

Here is the original version along with the original lyrics:

"Vacation" (original)
Written by Kathy Valentine

I thought a lot of things about you
I stayed awake just thinking 'bout you
But now I'm away
You had to stay
Tomorrow's a day of mine that you won't be in

I tried to say I was just having fun
But I really knew that you were the one
And now that I'm gone
I see I was wrong
I should have known all along that time would tell

A week without you
I should forget
Two weeks without you
And I'm still thinking about the things that you said.

Vacation
Just another holiday
Vacation
I hope you love me
Vacation
Would you think of me?

I think I'll leave without saying goodbye
I think that you know the reason why
What if I was to stay?
Would things turn out some other way?
I'll never know anyway 

And here is an early version with the Go-Go's, still not fully fleshed out:

In the end, though, the finished product was probably the best, even if I questioned whether or not the heroine was missing someone she'd met on a vacation or if she went on vacation to forget someone at home. (Kathy straightened me out -- it's the former!). And I'm not the only one who has been tripped up by this song, remember?