“I Told You So”
Keith Urban
Written by Keith Urban
2007
I’ll begin with saying “I Told You So” to my 28 year old self back in 2007.
This should’ve been atop my year-end singles list, but back then, I was still falling into the “serious writer” trap. Sure, this was my favorite single of the year, but how could I possibly claim an uptempo reconciliation/dis track as the pinnacle of the year? I went with Tim McGraw’s “If You’re Reading This” instead, a song I’ve rarely revisited in recent years.
I know now that there isn’t any point in adding that extra layer of “how will this be perceived?” to my analysis of a record. Music is personal and taste is subjective. Now I just write exactly what I think, and folks can decide for themselves whether I’m worth listening to. And I think “I Told You So” is the most spectacularly creative radio hit of the Country Universe era.
Perhaps this is because it’s among the purest distillations of his multiple talents. He wrote the song by himself, and it captures his essential empathy while still holding on to his swagger. He plays seven instruments on the record, and I love how he uses them to heighten the tension between his desire for reconciliation and his satisfaction at having been right: “Don’t say that you’re sorry,” he promises, “and I won’t say I told you so.”
The ganjo is prominent from the beginning, representing his stated spirit of forgiveness and understanding. But as the song progresses, the temptation to say “I told you so” grows stronger, represented by a heavy guitar riff that grows more and more insistent until it explodes into the forefront, with Urban twisting the knife in the song’s coda: “I won’t say I told you so….but I told you so! You should’ve known better than to leave me baby.”
Atop a furious musical outro, his “Na Na Na’s” taunt his returning lover as the instruments wail. It comes off like if the “I told you so” makes her turn around and leave again, the satisfaction of saying it was worth the cost.
Urban’s made some great music since, but his talent has never been more fully on display than it is on this record. I should’ve told you so back in 2007.
Additional Listening:
Alternate Take on the Same Idea
- Randy Travis, “I Told You So”
Keith Urban, the songwriter
- “You’re Not My God”
- “Thank You”
Keith Urban, the musician
- “Stupid Boy”
- “Once in a Lifetime” (Live)
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I starting getting into country music around the same time as CU’s inception, so this song is right in my wheelhouse. I’ve since mostly moved on to other genres, but it’s fun to come back and listen to the period of country music that has so much nostalgia for me. This was a highlight for me growing up as well. It’s just so sonically interesting!