Keith Urban - “You Look Good In My Shirt”

Add me to the list of folks who’s happy to see this song being released. It’s been on “regular rotation” on my mp3 player for a few years now. :)

I’m a little disappointed that the original version isn’t the one being released, however. I feel like the production on this “remix” is a little overdone… nevertheless, this is a great toe-tapper that should land solidly in the top 5.

70’s guitar riffs used to be cool, but by 2008 they have been pretty well played out.

It’s my understanding that this is an entirely new recording, not just a remix.

I agree that this is a fine song and a cut above typical Top 40 radio fare these days. Keith’s huge female fan base will guarantee this song becomes a Top 5 hit, and it deserves to.

I agree with others here that Keith should reach way back and pull a single off “The Ranch” album to stimulate market interest for the reissued version of that album. I think that “Just Some Love” may have been released as a single that went nowhere back when that album was first released, but I have a feeling it would do far better on radio these days…

Instead of reaching back to the Ranch cd for singles, Keith should try to get back to writing songs that sound more like the Ranch than his recent singles that seem to be leaning more and more towards Air Supply.

I also agree about the Ranch album. Some of Keiths best work. I wouldn’t mind seeing Desiree or Ghost in the Guitar.

Keith has sooo many great songs…when you buy his CDs (I have all of them) you can listen to every song without forwarding/skipping on any…unlike every other CDs out there, where you skip on all but 2-3 good songs! Other songs that are my absolute favorites that never got released:
Nobody Drinks Alone, Live to Love Another Day, What About Me, Hard Way…and a ton from the new CD.

I LOVE this song! To fully appreciate it you HAVE to hear it live. He re-recorded it to create “live” feel, which I think he accomplished. L-O-V-E it!!

I’ve listened to this a few times now and I still don’t get why it (or indeed Keith himself) is filed under Country.

Mike,
“Lyrically, there’s almost nothing there. Is that what passes for unoffensive? Don’t say too much, it might sound stupid?”

I was actually fairly impressed by how much content was in this one. As I said in the review, the song managed to be about more than the girl looking sexy in his shirt, it was about that gray space that morning after a re-hook up when its still unclear if the couple is getting back together or if it was just a post-relationship fling, and I was pleasently surprised to be offered a narrative with that amount of complexity and subtlety on the radio.

Though if by “lyrically, there’s almost nothing there” you mean that there wasn’t any clever writing or super impactful individual lines, then I’m inclined to agree with you.

Melanie,

I try to give credit where credit is due, though I wouldn’t expect this “me praising Keith Urban” trend to continue.

David
Generally I’d agree with you, and if I’m splitting hairs I’d throw this one out of the country pile for it’s bubbly, ryhthmic melody. But when considering it’s simple song structure, and the way it uses narrative, it’s close enough to country to get a thumbs up from me.

What about the song made you think it wasn’t country?

I do agree that it’s nice to hear something that goes a little deeper than “She’s a Hottie”

Ben
“What about the song made you think it wasn’t country?”
Just the overall rock-ish production of it. There’s some parts I can’t make out what he’s saying for the guitars being so loud. I do like Keith in small doses, but the sound is just too different from what i’d consider Country (and i’ve got a pretty broad definition). It just doesn’t fit for me. I prefer stuff like “Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me”, “Somebody Like You” or “Tonight I Wanna Cry”. “You Look Good In My Shirt” doesn’t have that same kind of emotional feel to me. I’d love it if he made an album full of stuff like “Raise The Barn”, his duet with Ronnie Dunn.

I’m a big fan of the Ranch songs too and agree that they have more meat on them. But Keith wasn’t the lyricist on those songs. Vernon Rust wrote the lyrics to Keith’s music.

Nancy, I thought the collaboration was a little more organic than that, although Rust being more responsible for the lyrics and Urban and vice-versa?

Still, I love that record, and it’s easily his most country project. Freedom’s Finally Mine is an underrated standout for me.

Well, I respect your opinions and all, but “Shirt” is running up the charts like no one’s business right now. On Billboard, it’s jumped 8 spots, labelling it as the “highest gainer” of the week and it’s only been released for two weeks. On Mediabase, it’s in the top 10 ALREADY and it’s closing out Swift, Sugarland and Simpson of the horse race. I haven’t seen a Keith Urban single rise up so fast since “Better Life” and he’s had several number ones after that point on.

It’s a summer hit, no doubt. If not, it’s going to be, because the summer just began.

Everyone seems to be in agreement about Keith’s Ranch Album, so why didn’t it do better and why didn’t radio show it a little more love! That was an outstanding album to me!