When American Idol alum Tim Urban first heard that Taylor Swift and One Direction's Harry Styles were a hot item, he immediately took his thoughts to Twitter, asking his followers what the inevitable breakup song would sound like.
Suddenly, it occurred to him: why not write it for her?
"I'm writing songs all the time, and half of them are silly," the season nine finalist tells The Hollywood Reporter. "For whatever reason, it just popped into my head that she's going to write a song about it."
Urban says he just plopped himself on his brother's bed, and started writing the lyrics: "He was the wrong direction with a beautiful face."
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"I didn't have a melody, but I did have the words, and I wrote it out on my phone," he says. The verses flowed right into the chorus, until Urban came up with what has turned out to be the most popular line of the song: "He can keep his accent."
He then picked up his guitar, fleshed it out, and decided to share it with the world, recording it on his phone.
At noon on Saturday, Urban uploaded the song to his YouTube channel and tweeted it out to his 35,400 Twitter followers. About two hours later, Urban was shocked to see it reach 5,000 views. Among those who shared the clip: a writer from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.
"I had no idea it would get that kind of reaction," he says. "The thing is, I didn't want to be mean to either one of them. It was a joke." But, he adds, "It does sound like something she would sing."
Urban thinks one person who would probably get a kick out of it is the man behind One Direction -- Simon Cowell.
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"I think Simon would get the humor in it," he says of the salty Brit, whose judging days on Idol came to an end after Urban's season (which also featured talk show host Ellen DeGeneres as a judge). "Simon has a sneaky sense of humor. I think he would appreciate it."
The 23-year-old Texas native doesn't think fans of either pop star are offended by his ditty -- the video already has 1,000 likes and few dislikes -- and he's is hoping that Swift and Styles take a look at the video.
If nothing else, Urban demures, "Maybe this is my way back on Ellen."
As for the current season of Idol, he's just as curious about how the Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj will behave on the new panel, telling THR, "There does seem to be more drama leading into this season, even more than when Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez stepped in ... I just hope it's good. Maybe it will turn out how it was when Simon and Paula Abdul were going back and forth."
As for his own plans, Urban revealed that he wants to fill the world with more of his "silly love songs," as he will independently release two songs in the new year, with the hope that he will be picked up by a label for a full album.
Watch Urban's masterpiece below, and let us know what you think in the comments:
Twitter: @Michele Amabile
