Brandy Clark on Recording Keith Urban’s “Come Back to Me”: “I Love What It Says”

Brandy Clark’s self-titled fourth studio album, available now, highlights the 11-time Grammy nominee’s knack for writing powerful story songs. Upon first listening to Brandy Clark country fans may recognize “Come Back to Me,” which was originally recorded by Keith Urban for his 2013 album Fuse.

Clark wrote the song with Shane McAnally and Old Dominion’s Trevor Rosen. In an interview with American Songwriter at Live In The Vineyard Goes Country in April, Clark says she always wanted to record the love song.

“I always toyed with doing that song and it just fit this time,” she tells American Songwriter. “I was listening to a whole bunch of songs right before I had to drive from Salt Lake City to LA because I was working on this musical that we had opened there. During that drive, I listened to parts of my catalog and the work tape of that song came up. I thought, ‘Man that might be worth, at least, me doing a work tape of it.’ So I did and everybody really resonated with it.”

The singer admits that she doesn’t write many love songs, but feels “Come Back to Me” is “a great love song.” The acoustic instruments paired with Clark’s whispered vocals accentuate the song’s descriptive and powerful lyrics. Watch her perform the song live on Today HERE.

“I need to go back and listen to the Keith [Urban] version now because I know that what we did was drastically different than any other version of that song,” she says. “I remember in the studio feeling like, ‘I didn’t know that this could be this.’ I feel lucky that it fit because I’ve always loved it. I love what it says. I don’t write a lot of love songs. I’ve never been great at love songs. I’ve always wanted to be. To me, it’s a great love song. I love that it’s on there.”

In addition to recording her own music, Clark teamed with McAnally to compose the musical comedy Shucked. The pair are nominated for Best Original Score at the 76th Annual Tony Awards. Shucked is nominated for nine awards at the 2023 ceremony, including Best New Musical.

(Photo Credit: Victoria Stevens/Courtesy of Sacks and Co.)