With more than 25 years in country music, Keith Urban has songs for almost every situation. But these four uplifting songs are so full of joy, they are bound to put anyone in a good mood.
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“Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me”
“Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” is about choosing contentment, regardless of one’s circumstances. Written by Urban and Monty Powell, the song came out in 2003 from Urban’s Golden Road record.
The song says, “And the sun is shinin’ / This road keeps windin’ / Through the prettiest country / From Georgia to Tennessee / And I got the one I love beside me / My troubles behind me / I’m alive, and I’m free / Who wouldn’t want to be me.”
“Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me” became Urban’s third No.1. single of his career.
“Long Hot Summer”
Regardless of the season, “Long Hot Summer” instantly transports the listener to happier, carefree days. Written by Urban and Richard Marx, the 2011 single is on Urban’s Get Closer record.
“Long Hot Summer” says, “It’s going to be a long, hot summer, we should be together / With your feet up on the dashboard now / Singing along with the radio, it’s such a beautiful sound / And when you say my name in the middle of the day / I swear I see the stars come out / When you hold my hand in the back of my mind / Just waiting for the sun to go down.”
Perhaps ironically, the song was written in the middle of a troubling season, after the devastating 2010 Nashville flood. Urban lost all of his guitars in the flood, and was borrowing a guitar when he and Marx wrote the song.
“It’s one of my favorite songs that we’ve written,” Marx says (via The Boot). “You always hope that when someone else records something you wrote, they will do it justice. When Keith sent me the recording of it after he had been in the studio, I called my family in to listen to it. There was just this one moment of ‘I hope it doesn’t stink’ before I hit the button, and it was great.”
“Days Go By”
Urban and Powell are also the songwriting team behind “Days Go By”. Out in 2004 on Urban’s Be Here album, the infectious tune is a reminder to live life to the fullest.
“Days Go By” says, “Days go by / I can feel them flyin’ like a hand out the window in the wind / The cars go by / It’s all we’ve been given So, you better start livin’ right now / ‘Cause days go by.”
“Days Go By” became a four-week No. 1 hit for Urban. Urban won a CMT Award for Best Video of 2005 with the “Days Go By” video.
“Go Home W U”
Lainey Wilson joins Urban on “Go Home W U“. The song, from his 2024 High album, is written by Urban, along with Breland, Sam Sumser, and Sean Small.
“Go Home W U” is technically a bar song, which is interesting, since Urban is sober. Still, the melody, along with Urban and Wilson singing along, makes it the perfect feel-good track.
“Go Home W U” says, “The clock goes ’round, it’s one already / But don’t turn it down, just let it play / Another round to hold us steady / We do one last cheers and down our beers / And they tell us that we can’t stay here / Oh, I know that it’s closing time and / I won’t lie, yes, I had more than a few / And you know I shouldn’t be driving / I think I should probably go home with you.”
Photo by Terry Wyatt/WireImage
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