Country Weekly (Sept. 8th 2008)

Story Behind The Song: Safe & Sound

Appropriately enough, a song called “Home” found a comfortable spot wherever it landed. The tune, written by pop singer Michael Buble, Amy Foster and Michael’s bandleader, Alan Chang, scored big on the pop charts for Michael, then later became a country smash for Blake Shelton.

The song had its beginning when Amy, the daughter of Grammy-winning producer David Foster, received a call from her friend Michael. “He said that he had this melody, and he really wanted me to write this song with him,” Amy remembers. “He had the first two lines already in his head— Another summer day, has come and gone away . . . but I want to go home.”

Amy and Alan helped Michael complete the song, and his version hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart in 2005. It caught the attention of country star Miranda Lambert, who put it on the iPod of her boyfriend—who happens to be Blake. “I listened to it and fell in love with it,” he notes. “The next thing I knew, I was walking around singing it all the time. I ended up learning it and performing it a few times.”

Blake finally decided to record his own version, which was included on a re-released version of his Pure BS album in May. Fittingly, Miranda supplied backing vocals.

In July, “Home” became Blake’s fourth No. 1 hit.

Amy wasn’t surprised at the song’s cross-genre success. “If you listen to the original ‘Home,’ you’ll hear a lot of country influences in the arrangement,” she explains. Country boy Blake says simply, “There’s just something about this song for me.”

Just as important is the song’s universal message, which comes through loud and clear no matter the musical arrangement.

“I’ve heard stories from people who have lost someone in their lives and this song strikes a chord with them,” Amy says. “I think it proves that no matter who you are and what you do, at the end of the day everyone has that basic desire to go home to that place where they feel safe and loved.”