"John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16" is a song written by Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman, and Josh Osborne and recorded by New Zealand-born Australian country music singer Keith Urban.
It was released on 9 June 2015 as the first single from Urban's 2016 album Ripcord.
The song has a slow 1970s funk vibe that carries distinct drum loops and several time changes, with production from Urban and longtime co-producer Dann Huff.
The song has received positive reviews from music critics who praised the production and lyrics, as well as Urban's return to traditional country with a brand-new sound.
Urban debuted the song at the Country Radio Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee in February 2015. Urban told The Boot that it "was sent to me a few months ago by one of the songwriters, and I loved it immediately".
Lyrically, the song uses several name-drops to illustrate the narrator's influences in life, culminating in "I learned everything I needed to know from John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16."
Musically, it features a "slowed, almost '70s funk vibe with distinct drum loops and several time changes".
Urban recorded the song at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, and co-produced it with longtime producer Dann Huff.
Urban told Nash Country Weekly that he was having difficulty creating a suitable vocal track until he took a bass guitar from the studio wall and played a bass line which he had originally intended to replace with one from a session musician, but ultimately left in the final recording.
The song was released to radio on 9 June 2015, and Urban performed it the next day on the CMT Music Awards.
Billy Dukes of Taste of Country reviewed the song with favor, saying that Keith Urban "returns to more traditional country themes while continuing to push his sound in new directions" and that it "has an everyman quality to it that heightens the song’s sharpness. It’s a good, mellow groove that won’t soon get old."
Tammy Ragusa of Nash Country Weekly gave the song an A– grade, saying that it was "one of the catchiest, most infectious songs of the summer" and "Dann Huff lets the song's arrangement ebb and flow". She also praised the lyrics, saying "there is some depth and a message."
The song was nominated for Best Country Solo Performance at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards but lost to Chris Stapleton's "Traveller".
