Story Behind the Song: Keith Urban, ‘I’m In’
"I'm In" became a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for Keith Urban in 2010, after he released it as a single from his 2009 Defying Gravity album, but he wasn't the first artist to record the tune.
Georgia Middleman and Radney Foster co-wrote the song for Foster's 1999 See What You Want to See album; for the project, Foster recorded the track as a duet with Abra Moore. The song was the record's first single but failed to chart. One year later, in 2000, the Kinleys included their version of "I'm In" on their II album, which featured six tracks (including "I'm In") produced by Foster.
Below, Middleman tells The Boot about writing the song.
I knew that I was writing with Radney on Friday, and by Thursday evening, I still didn't know what ideas I would be bringing to the table. I really wanted to have a good idea for him, and I wanted to have the right idea.
I decided to go to the movies that night to kind of veg out. I thought it might help me feel creative or spark a song idea. I went to see Good Will Hunting. There was one scene in particular that really hit me, between Robin Williams and Matt Damon: Robin's character said something to Matt's about being a thorn in the side. He talked about, if you want to keep going down this path, keep going, but if you want help, "I'm in."
I thought that was pretty cool. I grabbed a pen out of my purse and wrote down "I'm in." I thought it would be a really cool love song.
When I got together with Radney, I told him about my idea for "I'm In," and he really liked it. He grabbed his guitar and started playing a groove right away that really fit the idea I had. As he was strumming, he started humming out, "If I knew what I was doing / I'd be doing it right now." It just came out of nowhere. Then the song just took off!
We finished it over two writing appointments, and it turned out better than I ever could have expected it to.
This story was originally written by Alanna Conaway, and revised by Angela Stefano.
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