KEITH URBAN WILL BE INDUCTED INTO THE NASHVILLE SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME THIS WEEK, AND HE'S SHINING A LIGHT ON SOME OF THE SONGS HE'S WRITTEN.

Artist: Keith Urban

Keith Urban is set to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriter’s Hall of Fame on Wednesday (October 11th), along with Kix Brooks, David Lee Murphy, Casey Beathard and Rafe Van Hoy, and he couldn’t be more honored to be included in the Class of 2023.

The three-time Entertainer of the Year says it’s impossible to pick a favorite song he’s written, since he’s written thousands of songs, but he can point to specific songs that have changed the course of his career, including his six-week No. 1 song (his second chart-topper), 2002’s “Somebody Like You.”

“It’s impossible for me to sort of pick a favorite song that I’ve written or anything that I’m more grateful than any others, because they all capture a different part of my life and tell a different part of my story,” says Keith. “But certainly, songs that can send a career into a whole other gear, I mean, I would have to look at something like ‘Somebody Like You’ as one of the most important songs for me that happened and just changed this sort of, to a large degree, just sent my career into a whole different speed in a really wonderful way. Of course, you know, there’s hundreds of songs I’ve written that led up to that one getting written, and it’s just magic. It’s magical how that song got written. I wrote it with a guy called John Shanks, who I’d never met and I was nervous showing up that morning to write that song, and he had a little drum loop happening and I happened to bring my six-string banjo and I pulled it out of the case and the first thing that I played was that opening riff of the song and I started singing a melody, and the words started coming fairly quickly, and it was one those pretty easy to write songs, and I think it’s just where I was in my life at the time too. It really captured probably more of the person I wished I could be. I wasn’t that person in the song, but I wanted to be, and I felt I was getting close to being that person. So, it’s a truthful song. It came from a truthful place, and I’m still incredibly grateful for it. I can’t imagine doing a show and not doing that song, and I feel really grateful that I love it. I love it as much today as the day I wrote it.”

On his socials, he’s shining a light on some of the songs he’s written. He writes, “A recurring theme I write about often is being present and in the moment. For whatever reason, I’ve usually found uptempo music brings this out in me the most. Songs like “Days Go By” and “Gone Tomorrow (Here Today)” started with the music first, and for me, the music was already telling the story. Seize the day and LIVE !!!!” You can find these songs on a “SHINE” playlist he made on all digital and streaming platforms.

It's a massive honor to be inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame next week and I wanted to shine a light on a collection of songs that I've written.

Shine
Coming Home
I Told You So
Somebody Like You
Days Go By
Gone Tomorrow (Here Today)

I chose SHINE as the first… pic.twitter.com/CdiPW6oHjp

— Keith Urban (@KeithUrban) October 6, 2023

All five members will be formally inducted during the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala on Wednesday, October 11th, at the Music City Center.

Keith’s Las Vegas residency returns to the Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas on November 1st and runs through November 18th.

Keith Urban (Somebody Like You changed his life) OC: …I wrote it. 1:47
“It’s impossible for me to sort of pick a favorite song that I’ve written or anything that I’m more grateful than any others, because they all capture a different part of my life and tell a different part of my story. But certainly, songs that can send a career into a whole other gear, I mean, I would have to look at something like ‘Somebody Like You’ as one of the most important songs for me that happened and just changed this sort of, to a large degree, just sent my career into a whole different speed in a really wonderful way. Of course, you know, there’s hundreds of songs I’ve written that led up to that one getting written, and it’s just magic. It’s magical how that song got written. I wrote it with a guy called John Shanks, who I’d never met and I was nervous showing up that morning to write that song, and he had a little drum loop happening and I happened to bring my six-string banjo and I pulled it out of the case and the first thing that I played was that opening riff of the song and I started singing a melody, and the words started coming fairly quickly, and it was one those pretty easy to write songs, and I think it’s just where I was in my life at the time too. It really captured probably more of the person I wished I could be. I wasn’t that person in the song, but I wanted to be, and I felt I was getting close to being that person. So, it’s a truthful song. It came from a truthful place, and I’m still incredibly grateful for it. I can’t imagine doing a show and not doing that song, and I feel really grateful that I love it. I love it as much today as the day I wrote it.”

Keith Urban (Merle Haggard guitar riff) OC: …of the song. :38
“I wanted to write something from that famous guitar lick in that song, and we took it from Haggard’s record, sort of manipulated it a little bit and put some new chords around it and wrote this music track. And then that what became the chorus was almost stream of conscious when I was listening to the track. I just wrote ‘There’s a place that I know where they all know me/I gotta get back now to the ones who love me/wrap myself around you/never let you go/there’s nothing in the world that feels like Coming Home.’ And it all just came out, and that’s what Merle’s guitar lick made me feel, so it was a very important part of the song.”

Keith Urban (Days Go By) OC: …real familiarity. :25
“I thought it was a really, really catchy riff, and I thought the melody was really catchy. I was worried that the lyric was a little, just cliché and sort of I’ve heard all of this before, but I guess you can overshoot the runway so many times in writing lyrics and realize that there’s a reason why clichés are what they are is because they resonate with truth and universality and real familiarity.”