Keith Urban is racing up the country charts with his latest smash, “God Whispered Your Name,” which was written by James Slater, Shy Carter, Micah Carter and Chris August, While Keith writes a lot of his own material, he does gravitate towards songs from outside writers when it feels right.
“The song is everything, and it either feels like something that works for me or doesn’t,” says Keith. “Because a lot of times I can love a song and go into the studio and cut it and work and work on it, and I can’t get it to fit, you know? It’s so frustrating sometimes. It’s like seeing a great jacket in a store and you put it on and you go, ‘Is it me?’ And your friends are like, ‘Not really. You’re like, ‘But maybe I can make it me?’ And they’re like, ‘Not really.’ (laughs) Then you buy it anyway and then you never wear it. But for me, loving the song is number one. I think Eric (Church) said it, when we did ‘Raise ‘Em Up,’ he said, he goes, ‘Keith and I didn’t write this, but it feels like something we would’ve written.’ I thought that’s the perfect way to describe it. I think if you’re a writer and you want to cut a song you didn’t write, it’d be one you’d wished you’d written.”
“God Whispered Your Name” is closing in on the Top 10 on the country charts.
God Whispered Your Name, live at the @opry! Watch the full performance here: https://t.co/xWxq3x81c3 pic.twitter.com/JYAf9iAeDR
— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) May 28, 2020
Audio / Keith Urban talks about recording songs that he didn't write.
DownloadKeith Urban (on outside songs) OC: …you’d written. :49
“It’s just the song. The song is everything, and it either feels like something that works for me or doesn’t. Because a lot of times I can love a song and go into the studio and cut it and work and work on it, and I can’t get it to fit, you know? It’s so frustrating sometimes. It’s like seeing a great jacket in a store and you put it on and you go, ‘Is it me?’ And your friends are like, ‘Not really. You’re like, ‘But maybe I can make it me?’ And they’re like, ‘Not really.’ (laughs) Then you buy it anyway and then you never wear it. But for me, loving the song is number one. I think Eric (Church) said it, when we did ‘Raise ‘Em Up,’ he said, he goes, ‘Keith and I didn’t write this, but it feels like something we would’ve written.’ I thought that’s the perfect way to describe it. I think if you’re a writer and you want to cut a song you didn’t write, it’d be one you’d wished you’d written.”
