We Were Us Explained

We Were Us
Cover:WeWereUs.jpg
Type:single
Artist:Keith Urban with Miranda Lambert
Album:Fuse
Recorded:2013
Genre:Country
Chronology:Keith Urban
Prev Title:Shame
Prev Year:2013
Next Title:Cop Car
Next Year:2014

"We Were Us" is a song written by Nicolle Galyon, Jimmy Robbins, and Jon Nite and recorded by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban as a duet with American country music singer Miranda Lambert. It was released in September 2013 as the second international single and third overall from Urban's 2013 album Fuse.

Content

The song is the narrators' reminiscence of lost love. Lambert sings the first verse, Urban sings the second verse, and both sing the choruses and bridge together. The song is set in the key of D major with a vocal range of A–A.[1]

Critical reception

Giving it 4 out of 5 stars, Matt Bjorke of Roughstock compared its theme favorably to "Springsteen" by Eric Church, and praised the blending of Urban's and Lambert's voices, although he criticized the production as "a bit too busy and loud".[2]

"We Were Us" won Musical Event of the Year at the 2014 CMA Awards.[3]

Personnel

From liner notes to Fuse:[4]

Music video

The music video was directed by Reid Long and Becky Fluke and premiered in November 2013.[5]

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 49 on Country Airplay for the week ending 21 September 2013. The next week, it climbed to number 29, while debuting at 24 on Hot Country Songs.[6] Its chart run has overlapped with Lambert's single "All Kinds of Kinds", the fifth from her album Four the Record. The song has sold 566,000 copies in the US as of January 2014.[7] This would be Keith's last top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 until "Blue Ain't Your Color" in 2016.

Charts and certifications

Year-end charts

Chart (2013)Position
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[8] 57
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[9] 62
Chart (2014)Position
US Country Airplay (Billboard)[10] 72
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[11] 64

Certifications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 'We Were Us' sheet music. MusicNotes.com. 19 November 2013 . 19 February 2014.
  2. Web site: Single Review: Keith Urban & Miranda Lambert - We Were Us. Bjorke. Matt. 19 September 2013. Roughstock. 25 September 2013.
  3. Web site: Dierks Bentley, Keith Urban + Miranda Lambert Are Early 2014 CMA Awards Winners . Taste of Country . November 5, 2014 . November 5, 2014.
  4. Fuse (Deluxe Edition) . Keith Urban . 2013 . CD booklet . Capitol Records Nashville/Hit Red Records . B0019113-02.
  5. Web site: CMT : Videos : Keith Urban : We Were Us. https://web.archive.org/web/20131121061439/http://www.cmt.com/videos/keith-urban/979529/we-were-us.jhtml. dead. November 21, 2013. Country Music Television. 17 November 2013.
  6. Keith Urban's 'Fuse' Ignites On Country Charts. Jessen. Wade. 19 September 2013. Billboard. 25 September 2013.
  7. News: Country Chart News - The Top 30 Digital Singles - January 22, 2014: Eric Church, Blake Shelton, Cole Swindell, Cassadee Pope, Scotty McCreery Tops. Conaway . Alanna . Roughstock . 2013-01-24.
  8. Best of 2013: Country Airplay . . . 2013 . 13 December 2013.
  9. Best of 2013: Hot Country Songs . . . 2013 . 13 December 2013.
  10. Billboard Country Update for December 15, 2014. 17. December 15, 2014. Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 15, 2014.
  11. Best of 2014: Hot Country Songs . . . 2014 . December 9, 2014.