Keith Urban confesses he initially had "no idea" his buddy Eric Church co-wrote his new single, "We Were"

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If you’re surprised to learn that Eric Church co-wrote Keith Urban‘s new single, “We Were” — you’re not the only one.

Keith himself confesses he had no clue the Chief had anything to do with the tune.

“I just loved it,” Keith says. “From the very first verse, I just loved it. I love the imagery of it. I love the melody, the feel of it. I had no idea Eric was a writer on it.”

“Because I learned it off the [demo] recording and wrote out my own lyrics,” he explains, “and went in and sang it. And we went and recorded it, actually recorded it last December, before Christmas.”

“And then,” Keith continues, “I just lived with it for a while tinkering [with] bits and pieces of it over the next handful of months, until we finished it out.”

Keith was getting ready to turn the song in to his label when he realized his “Raise ‘Em Up” collaborator had helped craft the song.

“It wasn’t until I needed to make sure I had all the lyrics right that I asked for a copy of the lyrics,” he recalls. “And that’s the first time I saw the writers on the song. So I was shocked when I saw Eric on it, but it made sense as well.”

“We Were” is the lead single from Keith’s forthcoming follow-up to last year’s Graffiti U album.

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