“If You’re Done, You’re Done”: The Real Reason Why Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You” Guitar Solo Sounds So Intense

One of the most important jobs of a producer is to pull emotions out of an artist, good or bad, which certainly came into play during the recording of Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You.” The early 2000s country hit remains a staple in Urban’s discography to this day, featuring a sun-soaked production style that highlighted Urban’s pop-sensible voice and electric guitar skills.

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But the latter required a bit of coaxing to reach its full potential, much to Urban’s chagrin and producer Dann Huff’s surprise.

When Producers and Stars Collide

Although Australian country star Keith Urban achieved moderate success with his first two albums, Capitol Records wanted to pack a real punch for Urban’s third album, The Golden Road. The label wanted a fiery production style with plenty of electric guitar features, and they called in producer and prolific guitarist Dann Huff to make it happen. However, the process was easier said than done.

Huff is undoubtedly a skillful guitarist. But he roots his studio approach in commercialism and pop sensibilities. In an interview with Premier Guitar, Huff described their contrasting ethos when tracking guitar. “[Keith had] heard records I produced, and he hated them,” Huff said. “It wasn’t his kind of music. He made country records. So, basically, he set up a whole scenario to try me out on one song.” The song Huff ended up choosing was “Somebody Like You.”

“I had decent instincts about the song,” Huff continued. “It was like one of those things where it dropped from the sky. Everything was right. It was never a struggle. But there was intensity about our recordings. He had this ridiculous punk rock ethic. I had this whole pedigree of pop music. Music for me was orchestration. So, you put these two guys together, and you got a confrontation.”

The Fire Behind Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You”

One of those confrontations happened while Keith Urban was cutting the guitar solo for his 2002 hit single. “He got so p***** off at me,” producer Dann Huff remembered. “Keith is such a physical guitar player, and up to that point, I was more auditory. He was pulling one way, and I was pulling another. But his weakness at that point was settling for something that doesn’t sting as hard as it can sting. I’m listening for those moments. You could play the same five notes 100 times, and they’ll always sound different.”

Huff was waiting for the magic to happen, unaware that he was actually waiting a little too long. “He was getting angrier with each take, and he said, “Crikey! What the f*** do you want?’ I was like, ‘If you’re done, you’re done. I think we might have it.’”

In the end, Huff was right. They did have it. Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You” was a massive success, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks and No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The double-platinum track is still one of Urban’s most beloved songs, even if it was a major pain getting it just right. In hindsight, we’d have to assume that Urban was able to reconcile his frustrations with Huff following the song’s tremendous success. 

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