Keith Urban has become the first musician to find song inspiration in the Harvey Weinstein sexual harassment and assault scandal.
His new track Female was written by Shane McAnally, Nicolle Galyon, and Ross Copperman and the country singer reveals when he heard it for the first time he knew he had to record it.
The song was released on Wednesday (08Nov17) and Urban will debut it live at the Country Music Association Awards.
“The writers wrote this song on October 10th and I heard it the next day,” Urban tells Rolling Stone Country. “I got to hear it fresh out of the oven, and it was instant love for me. I know all three of (the writers) and I think, obviously, the tone of times right now was weighing on all of them, and compelled them to write this song.
“It affected me not just as a husband, but also as a father of two young girls – and a son. I had a heart reaction – my first thought was that it was a gospel soul prayer mantra, all rolled into one.”
The lyrics from the song include the lines: “When somebody laughs and implies that she asked for it/Just cause she was wearing a skirt/Oh is that how that works?”
Copperman explains he and his co-writers penned the song after allegations of sexual harassment and assault against movie producer Weinstein were first detailed in a New York Times expose last month (Oct17).
“It’s from the Weinstein announcement,” he said on the red carpet at the annual BMI Country Awards on Tuesday (07Nov17). “We’re in a room and we’re like, ‘What can we do about this?’ And that’s the one thing we can do, is write songs.”
Urban is not the only member of his family to talk about the scandal – after the allegations were revealed, his actress wife Nicole Kidman spoke out in support of the alleged victims.
“As I’ve stated before publicly, I support and applaud all women and these women who speak out against any abuse and misuse of power – be it domestic violence or sexual harassment in the workforce,” Nicole declared in a statement issued to People.com. “We need to eradicate this behavior.”
