Done ’em wrong songs
A guide to cheating in pop music
There’s probably a cheating song for every two or three straight-up love songs, so any list on the subject is bound to be incomplete and arbitrary. The following list could easily have contained a thousand, or 10,000. Surely you will think of some that didn’t make this list.
1. “As Good as I’ve Been to You” —Howlin’ Wolf
2. “The Race Is On"—George Jones
3. “Phonograph Blues” —Robert Johnson
4. “Tempted"—Squeeze
5. “The Cold Hard Facts of Life” —Whisperin’ Bill Anderson
6. “Man in the Iron Mask"—Billy Bragg
7. “The Married Men"—The Roches
8. “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town"—Kenny Rogers & the First Edition
9. “Don’t Break the Code” —The Oak Ridge Boys
10. “Cosi Fan Tutte"—Mozart’s comic opera about infidelity
11. “Layla"—Eric Clapton (Derek & the Dominos)
12. “Why’d Ya Do It?” —Marianne Faithful
13. “No Nostradamus"—Lex Zaleta
14. “Norwegian Wood"—The Beatles
15. “Runaround Sue"—Dion
16. “Hey Joe"—Jimi Hendrix
17. “Trust No Man"—Ma Rainey
18. “I’m Walking Behind You” —Frank Sinatra
19. “Back Door Man” —Willie Dixon, et al.
20. “Right Next Door (Because of Me)"—Robert Cray
21. “Black Snake Moan” —Blind Lemon Jefferson
22. “Take It on the Run” —REO Speedwagon
23. “Unfaithful"—Rihanna
24. “One Way Out” —Sonny Boy Williamson, The Allman Brothers, et al
25. “Your Cheatin’ Heart” —Hank Williams
26. “Woman to Woman"—Shirley Brown
27. “Slippin’ Around"—Jimmy Wakely & Margaret Whiting
28. “I’ll Never Slip Around Again"—Floyd Tilman
29. “We’re Getting Careless With Our Love"—Johnnie Taylor
30. “Married, But Not to Each Other"—Denise LaSalle
31. “Don’t Let Me Catch You With Your Drawers Down"—Koko Taylor
32. “I Made a Mistake and I’m Sorry"—Ray Price
33. “I’m Gonna Have to Tell Her"—Isaac Hayes
34. “Diggin’ My Potatoes"—Washboard Sam
35. “Soft Place to Fall"—Allison Moorer
36. “(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right"—Millie Jackson
37. “Mr and Mrs Untrue"—Lloyd Price
38. “Who Are You Gonna Love (Your Woman Or Your Wife)"—Rozetta Johnson
39. “I Find You Cheatin’ on Me"—Hank Thompson
40. “Don’t Explain"—Billie Holiday, Helen Merrick, et. al.
41. “Part Time Lover, Full Time Fool"—Loleatta Holloway
42. “I’ll Be the Other Woman"—Soul Children, Rory Block
43. “Tennessee Waltz"—Pee Wee King, Patti Page, Nora Jones, dozens more
44. “If He Hadn’t Slipped Up and Got Caught"—Bobby Patterson
45. “Dark End of the Street"—James Carr
46. “Some Other Man (Is Beating Your Time)"—Carla Thomas
47. “Suspicious Minds"—Candi Staton, Elvis, et. al.
48. “You Two-Timed Me Once Too Often"—Tex Ritter
49. “If We Get Caught I Don’t Know You"—Phillip Mitchell
50. “Back Street Affair"—Webb Pierce
51. “Paying for That Back Street Affair"—Kitty Wells
52. “Cheatin’ on Your Baby"—Red Foley
53. “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"—Kitty Wells
54. “Jenny Lou Carson and Her Tumbleweed"—Jenny Lou Carson
55. “Before He Cheats"—Carrie Underwood
56. “When I Think About Cheating"—Gretchen Wilson
57. “Cheating"—Sara Evans
58. “She Just Started Liking Cheatin’ Songs"—Alan Jackson
59. “I Just Started Hatin’ Cheatin’ Songs Today"—Moe Bandy
60. “This Time I’ve Hurt Her More Than She Loves Me"—Conway Twitty
61. “A Fire I Can’t Put Out"—George Strait
62. “After the Fire Is Gone"—Loretta Lynn/Conway Twitty; Tracy Nelson/Willie Nelson
63. “Because You Can’t Be Mine"—Merle Haggard
64. “On the Other Hand"—Randy Travis
65. “A Hard Secret to Keep"—Mark Chesnutt
66. “In Dreams"—Roy Orbison
67. “Bible Belt"—Travis Tritt
68. “Voices Carry"—Til Tuesday
69. “My Baby’s Been Cheatin’ Again"—Mickey Gilley
70. “Cheatin’ Blues"—Big Al & the Heavyweights
71. “An Axe to Grind"—Cliff Waldron
72. “Rapture"—Pedro the Lion
73. “Me and Mrs. “Jones"—Billy Paul
74. “Hungry Heart"—Bruce Springsteen
75. “Part-Time Love"—Little Johnny Taylor, Howard Tate
76. “She Don’t Have to Know"—John Legend
77. “Footsteps in the Dark"—Isley Brothers
78. “Careless Whisper"—Wham!
79. “The Long Honeymoon"—Elvis Costello
80. “She’s Acting Single, I’m Drinkin’ Doubles"—Gary Stewart
81. “The Piña Colada Song (Escape)"—Rupert Holmes
82. “Now I’m Cheatin’ on You"—Lorraine Turner
83. “A Little Whiskey"—Pinkie & the Snakeshakers
84. “Jolene"—Dolly Parton, Matraca Berg
85. “You Can Have My Husband But Please Don’t Mess With My Man"—Irma Thomas
86. “Walk on By"—LeRoy Van Dyke
87. “Lyin’ Eyes"—The Eagles
88. “Heaven’s Just a Sin Away"—The Kendalls
89. “Pretty Girl Bullshit"—Mario Winans
90. “If I Had My Wife to Love Over"—Vernon Oxford
91. “Yeah"—Usher
92. “How Can It Be Wrong When It Feels So Right"—Barbara Mandrell
93. “It’s a Cheatin’ Situation"—Glen Campbell
94. “All Over Town"—Wade Bowen
95. “Little Girl"—Syndicate of Sound
96. “My Place"—Nelly
97. “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down"—Ann Peebles
98. “Breakin’ Up Somebody’s Home"—Etta James
99. “Ninety Miles an Hour"—Hank Snow
100. “Frankie and Johnny"—Covered by thousands