The 30 Day Song Challenge: Day 11

Today’s category is…

A Cheating Song.

Here are the staff picks:

Kevin Coyne: “(Margie’s at) The Lincoln Park Inn” – Bobby Bare

Proof that while the other woman can sometimes sound sympathetic, there’s no getting around the fact that the guy is a heel, allowing his selfishness to wreck the lives at home and at the Lincoln Park Inn.

Leeann Ward: “Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town” – Martina McBride

Country music is rife with the greatest cheating songs, but the one that’s running through my head now is Martina McBride’s “Phones Are Ringing All Over Town.” I love the frenzied way the desperate man tries to live in his denial that his wife has had enough of his cheating ways by calling everyone he can think of to try to find her. Sucker!

Dan Milliken: “Oh, Sweet Temptation” – Gary Stewart

That signature tremble in Stewart’s voice works wonders here as he considers fooling around with a married woman. It’s part nervousness, part gaspy adrenaline, and of course very part self-loathing. Mmm, country.

42 Comments

  1. Mine would probably be “She’s Not The Cheatin Kind” by Brooks & Dunn. BTW, I thought “Phones Are Ringin’ All Over Town” was about the woman, not cheating, but leaving and he’s calling anyone he can think of who might know where she went? Shows what I know! :)

  2. Love me a good cheatin’ song. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” is probably the first one that comes to mind, but I’m also a big fan of Patty’s “Blame It On Your Heart,” Wynonna’s “I Saw the Light,” Sara’s “Cheatin’,” Shania’s “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under,” and of course there are a boatload of classic Reba songs to choose from.

  3. Broken Promise Land-Mark Chesnutt
    Reasons I Cheat-Randy Travis
    I Shouldn’t Do This-John Randall
    Pocket Full of Gold-Vince Gill
    On Your Way Home-Patty Loveless
    I’d Rather Have What We Had-Lee Ann Womack & Joe Diffie
    Stay-Sugarland

  4. Another cheating song that I could have easily chosen is Randy Travis’ “On the Other Hand.” He ends up not cheating, which is probably the best kind of cheating song there can be.:)

  5. …probably the darkest and most beautiful cheatin’song is dwight yoakam’s “buenos noches from a lonely room (she wore red dresses)” ballad.

    and the hottest is still conway twitty’s “ba bam bam…”

  6. “She Just Started Liking Cheatin’ Songs” by either John Anderson or Alan Jackson. Your pick, no cheating :)

  7. an almost cheating song – “Almost Persuaded” by David Houston – according to Billboard it was the biggest country hit of the last fifty years

    an actual cheating song – “She’s Acting Single I’m Drinking Doubles)” by Gary Stewart

  8. Rosanne Cash – “The Way We Make a Broken Heart”

    Mark McGuinn – “She Doesn’t Dance”

    favorite song about not cheating:

    Martina McBride – “All the Things We’ve Never Done”

  9. sugerland stay” carrie underwood before he cheat. reba mcentirewhoever in new england.toby keith stay in mexico

  10. sugerland- stay”
    carrie underwood- before he cheats”
    reba mcentire-whoever in new england”
    toby keith stays in mexico”

  11. “The Dark End Of The Street”, as done by Linda Ronstadt on her classic 1974 album Heart Like A Wheel. A much-beloved standard of late 1960s Southern soul music about two lovers who have to hide their affair in the shadows so that they don’t get caught, it’s done by Linda in a fashion that merges R&B, country, and rock and, shockingly, is virtually the only “cheating” song in her entire repertoire.

  12. After The Fire Is Gone — Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn
    The Midnight Oil — Barbara Mandrell
    It’s A Cheatin’ Situation — Moe Bandy & Janie Fricke

  13. @Razor X: I was waiting for someone to say “The Midnight Oil.” That’s the first song that popped into my head.

    Others include “Cheatin'” by Sara Evans and “Little Rock” by Reba.

    “Does He Love You” by Reba & Linda Davis, is a good example, showing both sides of cheating!

  14. Some great songs have been mentioned already. A couple more of my favorites:

    “Cheatin’ Is” – Emmylou Harris & Glen Campbell
    “Radio Lover” – George Jones
    “It’s All Wrong, But It’s All Right” – Dolly Parton
    “Lyin’ Eyes” – The Eagles

  15. “I Guess You Had to Be There” – Lorrie Morgan

    @Erik North: Because of its composition and original release during the Civil Rights Movement, I’ve always thought “The Dark End of the Street” was about an interracial relationship. I can totally see your interpretation, though

  16. just heard a new cheating song on i-Tunes from Matraca Berg’s album “The Dreaming Fields” which was released a few days ago. It’s called “Your Husband’s Cheating On Us.” Good song.

  17. @ Joseph:

    The interracial aspect of “Dark End” is always a possibility, though the only guys who might know are Dan Penn and Chips Moman, who wrote it. It is a much covered cheating song, as it has been done by Linda; James Carr; Aretha Franklin; and even the Flying Burrito Brothers (with Gram Parsons on lead vocals).

  18. An excellent not-cheating song I immediately thought of was Gary Allan’s “No Man in His Wrong Heart.”
    Johnny Cash’s “I walk the Line” , Gretchen Wilson”s “When I Think About Cheating” and Randy Travis’ “On the Other Hand” are also good not cheating songs.

    I think Sara Evans’ “Cheating” is far superior to Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats”–not all women need resort to violence to get revenge!

    LeeAnn Womack’s a bevy of good cheating songs I enjoy, yet I also admit I get a kick out of Taylor Swift’s “Picture to Burn” and “Should’ve Said No”.
    James Otto’s “When a Woman’s Not Watching” and Garth Brooks’ “Thunder Rolls” are two more I like.

    As far as fear of a partner cheating, both the original and Tim McGraw’s cover of “Suspicions” nails that vein. Also like Blake Shelton’s “I Don’t Care” for how he tries to be indifferent when he thinks shes cheating but is relieved to learn the other man was just her brother.

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