Keith Urban’s Acoustic ‘We Were’ Will Leave You Longing for Lost Love [Listen]
Keith Urban has just released an acoustic version of his latest single, "We Were," giving the song an even more intimate treatment.
Urban dropped the new audio track on Friday (Aug. 2), and while it largely follows along the same musical lines as the studio recording, he's re-arranged the song to focus mainly on the vocal and lyrics, framed by only a gentle organ, his acoustic guitar and a gentle, pulsating rhythm of light percussion. There's no reverb applied to his vocal track, drawing the listener in even more to lyrics about a lost love that leaves the narrator looking back with longing.
"We were her on my shoulders, lighter in the air / "Pour Some Sugar on Me" / We were top down at Johnson's field when she whispered that she wants me / At least there's a little bit of sweet in the bitter, though a part of me is always gonna miss her / I am who I am, I just miss who I was when we were," Urban sings in the chorus.
"We Were" is the first single from Urban's as-yet-untitled forthcoming studio album. Eric Church co-wrote the song along with Ryan Tyndell and Jeff Hyde.
Keith Urban + Nicole Kidman Tuly Lived "We Were"
Urban actually had no idea that Church co-wrote "We Were" when he cut it.
"I didn't know he was a writer, which was really cool, because it wasn't until we recorded the song, it was all done, and I found out after the fact," he tells the Bobby Bones Show in a recent interview. "I found out and I called Eric, and I was like, 'Dude, I just cut this song.' He was thrilled. I said, 'I had no idea that you were a writer on it.'"
It was essentially fate, however — the "We Were" lyrics are far better suited to Urban's perspective than Church's; in particular, his relationship with his Academy Award-winning wife Nicole Kidman. According to Pop Culture, Church told his record label that "I don't ride a Harley," sharing that Keith and Nicole "used to do that when they first started dating, and they were touring."
Church was referencing the line: "And we were leather jackets hangin' onto a Harley / Two heartbeats in the moonlight."
Urban's new acoustic recording of "We Were" lands just in time, as his performance of "We Were" is set to air as part of CMA Fest: The Music Event of Summer on Sunday night (Aug. 4) at 8PM ET on ABC.
Watch Riley Green's Inspiring RISERS Performance:
See 10 Things You Didn't Know About Keith Urban: