ABC/Mark LevineIt’s been several days since Keith Urban shared his tenth studio album, The Speed of Now Part 1, and the singer’s still reveling in fan reactions to his newest batch of tunes.

There’s plenty of variety across the project, from the fast-paced and fun-loving “Tumbleweed” to the lovestruck single “God Whispered Your Name,” but few songs go deeper than one track on the album, “Say Something.”

That song urges listeners to express themselves instead of burying their thoughts and feelings. While that could be interpreted as a call to social action, Keith says he had a more personal situation in mind when he wrote it.

“I thought about my dad. I was raised in a house with a father who was always like, ‘Ah, you know, just don’t rock the boat. Don’t speak out against things; just be quiet,’” the singer reflects to Rolling Stone. “I was raised like that, and that way of being was somewhat problematic in our family.”

As an adult, Keith married Nicole Kidman and the couple started a family of their own, with daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret.

“…Our family now is very, very different on that front,” he continues, explaining that he feels a particular connection to the song’s line, “I don’t want to be like my father was / Scared to rock the boat but never speaking up / I want to live my truths wide open.”

The singer points out that even though he doesn’t consider himself a “jump-on-the-soapbox” person, he’s still learning all the time about how important it is to say the things that really matter.

“There are so many things I wish I’d said to my father and I didn’t get the chance before he died,” Keith reflects.

By Carena Liptak
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