The Stories Behind the Songs: Keith Urban’s Inspiration for “High”
ICYMI (which frankly is a bit impossible), Keith Urban is releasing his new album after almost four years. High is Keith’s 12th album, following his The Speed of Now Part 1 album, released in 2020. The 40-minute album has 11 songs, with “Wildside” as the first single. Urban shared the stories behind some of the songs included in his latest album.
“Wildside”
The album’s first single, “Wildside,” is about the various girls that Keith has known. Titled as such, it reflects the contrast between their weekday personas —well-mannered, disciplined, and strait-laced—and how they transform into different people on Friday nights (don’t we all?)
Keith said, “A whole other person comes [out], and I thought we would write a song about bringing out her wild side.”
“Chuck Taylors”
The first song Keith wrote for the album, he explained how the song came to have its title. “It’s a beautiful metaphor for a sweet rural relationship that might go the distance, hopefully can go the distance. And years and years later. [it’ll] be like a pair of Chuck Taylors up on the wire, still hanging in there.”
Aside from the sweet inspiration behind the song, he described it as a song “bristling with huge amount of energy.”
Straight Line
“Straight Line” came to life during one of his studio sessions. According to him, it was a “pretty easy song to write about getting color back into your life. It’s a song to break the monotony of how life can sometimes be.” Pay close attention to the song’s opening riff courtesy of Keith’s bass player, Jerry Flowers.
“Heart Like a Hometown”
The 8th song in his album track list, “Heart Like a Hometown,” will give fans and new listeners alike a glimpse of Urban’s childhood. The song is inspired by his definition of what a hometown is, as someone who keeps on moving a lot, living in different houses, and going to different schools.
He shared in an interview, “So, a hometown for me became more about my family and my guitar because I was playing guitar at the age of six. So, home became like a place inside of me.” It’s a sentiment a lot of people can relate to.
“Go Home W U (with Lainey Wilson)”
Written in 2020, “Go Home W U” is finally having its moment. Co-written with BRELAND, Sam Sumser and Sean Small, the song is about “being back in a bar with all our friends and lights and music and camaraderie and fun” which is what we all wanted at the time during the pandemic. Keith’s friend, Dan McCarroll, suggested that he sing the song with Lainey Wilson. To make it work, they added a bridge, giving them more parts to sing together, as the song wasn’t originally written as a duet.
Keith Urban’s latest album, High, is out now.
