Keith Urban Performs Moonlit ‘We Were’ During 2019 CMA Awards
Keith Urban was among the performers who took the stage during the 2019 CMA Awards on Wednesday night (Nov. 13). Urban performed his current single, "We Were," live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
He noted before the show that his performance would be a "stripped-down" acoustic performance, and the singer came through with that promise. By way of introduction to the song, Urban gave a quick spoken presentation as he strummed away on his guitar.
"This song is about a first love, fake IDs, leather jackets on the back of a Harley," he said. "Sneaking into a club to hear a band play a little 'Pour Some Sugar on Me,' thinking it would always last, and not thinking it would ever fade like the stamp on the back of your hand."
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Urban released "We Were" to country radio in May of 2019. The song is the lead single from whatever project Urban has coming next, the details of which have not been announced. Eric Church teamed with Ryan Tyndell and Jeff Hyde to write the sentimental song, which finds the narrator looking back on a lost love very wistfully.
"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.
Though Church wrote the song, he says it's a better fit for Urban's love story with his wife, Nicole Kidman.
"There's a line in there about 'two heartbeats in the moonlight in leather jackets on a back of a Harley,’" Church says. "I don’t ride a Harley ... He and Nicole used to do that when they first started dating, and they were touring, they would jump on his Harley and they would put on their leather jackets and they’d go ride up in the countryside before the show."
Urban was multiple a nominee in the 2019 CMA Awards going into the show. He was up for Male Vocalist, as well as the night's biggest award, Entertainer of the Year.
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