Go Home W U
by Keith Urban (featuring Lainey Wilson)

Album: High (2024)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • "Go Home W U" is a bouncy, whiskey-soaked story of two folks who maybe had one (or perhaps a few) too many. Keith Urban and Lainey Wilson trade verses, confessing to a night gone a little too long. With the kind of optimism that only comes after a few drinks, they see this tipsy situation as an opportunity: "I think I should probably go home with you." It's a cheeky proposition, a playful plead to avoid a potentially disastrous drive home.
  • Urban wrote "Go Home W U" in 2020 with Breland, Sam Sumser and Sean Small. "We had a blast writing it," said Urban. "It started out as a late-night drum loop, I grabbed a bass guitar and started playing a simple recurring bass line. Before we knew it, we were writing a chorus that could be sung by any drunk person in any bar anywhere in the world."
  • "Go Home W U" was originally written to be sung solo, but when a friend suggested making it a duet, Urban immediately thought of Wilson. "She's got the swagger and attitude that fit so well with the song," Urban shared.

    So, Urban sent Wilson a text message back in April 2023, asking if she'd be interested in lending her voice to the track.

    "Hey ya Lainey," the text reads, "It's Keith (Urban) here. Hope you're good. Would you be game to sing on a song of mine if it suited ya?!"

    "I've been sitting on one for a while that I think you'd dig... and I'd love to hear you on," it continues. "It's on the chorus... and various bits and pieces... a chill bar singalong vibe."

    The rest, as they say, is history. Wilson hopped on board, and "Go Home W U" simmered several months before finally hitting the airwaves on May 3, 2024.
  • The music video is a psychedelic road trip meets classic barroom singalong. Black-and-white footage of Urban and Wilson cruising alternates with animated cutouts of the singers grooving to the beat.
  • Urban first heard Wilson in the early 2020s and immediately fell in love with her voice. He set out to find something they could do together. "I actually thought we might write a song at some point," he recalled to Taste Of Country Nights' Evan Paul. "'Go Home W U' was sitting around and it wasn't a duet, but turned out to be a great duet."

    "I sent it to Lainey, she loved it," he added. "Killed the second verse. When I heard her sing it, I loved her voice so much on the track that we wrote a bridge on the song that wasn't in it originally, just so I could hear more of Lainey."
  • Urban, Breland, Sumser and Small wrote the song during the 2020 COVID lockdown. "That's one of the quarantine-type songs where everything was shut down," Urban told Billboard. "We so missed being in a packed club with your friends and music and fun, fun, fun."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Metallica

MetallicaFact or Fiction

Beef with Bon Jovi? An unfortunate Spandex period? See if you can spot the true stories in this Metallica version of Fact or Fiction.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin GayeFact or Fiction

Did Marvin try out with the Detroit Lions? Did he fake crazy to get out of military service? And what about the cross-dressing?

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)

Jason Newsted (ex-Metallica)Songwriter Interviews

The former Metallica bassist talks about his first time writing a song with James Hetfield, and how a hand-me-down iPad has changed his songwriting.

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."

Brandi Carlile

Brandi CarlileSongwriter Interviews

As a 5-year-old, Brandi was writing lyrics to instrumental versions lullabies. She still puts her heart into her songs, including the one Elton John sings on.