The country singer croons: "When you hear somebody say somebody hits like a girl, how does that hit you?"
Keith Urban is celebrating women and the many roles and titles they're given throughout their lives.
The 50-year-old country crooner performed his new song, "Female," for the first time at the 51st annual CMA Awards on Wednesday night in Nashville, Tennessee, just weeks after the Harvey Weinstein scandal spurred droves of women to share their own experiences with sexual harassment and/or assault.
"When somebody laughs and implies that she asked for it, just 'cause she was wearin' a skirt. Oh, is that how that works?" Urban sings. "When somebody talks about how it was Adam first, does that make you second best -- or did He save the best for last?"
“As a husband and a father of two young girls, it affects me in a lot of ways,” Urban -- who has two daughters under the age of 10 with wife Nicole Kidman -- tells Billboard of the song’s message. “And as a son -- my mother is alive. It just speaks to all of the females in my life, particularly. ...But not only in my house; I employ a huge amount of women in my team. The song just hit me for so many reasons.”
The music publication also speaks with the writers of the song, Ross Copperman, Nicolle Galyon and Shane McAnally, who note that they came up with the lyrics after hearing of the sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein. They also wanted to pen something empowering following the fatal Las Vegas shooting last month.
"When you’re dealing with that kind of subject, you’re already fraught with, how do you frame something that speaks to as many people as possible?" Urban says. "I think the writers did an extraordinary job on reaching down to places of the soul and heart and humanity, even deeper [to] that sense of oneness and connectedness."
In addition to recognizing the struggles a woman can face, the song also calls out all the titles and responsibilities she's given. Urban sings, "Sister, shoulder, daughter, lover, healer, broken halo, mother nature, fire, suit of armor, soul survivor, holy water, secret keeper, fortune teller, virgin Mary, scarlet letter, technicolor, river wild, baby girl, woman, child -- Female."
Kidman has often praised her husband for the support he's shown her, especially when she was shooting intense scenes for her Emmy-winning role on Big Little Lies.
"Luckily, I have a partner who is artistic so he understands what it takes to support that," the 50-year-old actress told ET exclusively. "[He] would hold me, and I was really upset at times -- really damaged and really upset and physically and emotionally drained and in pain. Luckily, I have that at home."
Check out more of Kidman gushing over her guy:
