It Ain't My Fault

Album: Pawn Shop (2016)
Charted: 79
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The closing track of Brothers Osborne's Pawn Shop album finds the sibling duo placing the blame for the previous night's series of events on a former girlfriend.

    "We just wanted something that was a little more kind of gritty and kind of had some attitude to it, and the whole song is just about clearly all of these things you are blaming on the other, but you are the person that is making this happen," said TJ Osborne. "You are the person who is to blame, but you're just so hell bent on having a good time or going forward and not being boggled down by all of the things that would stop a normal person. You kind of just get in the surreal moment of denying any bit of blame."
  • The song was written by John and TJ Osborne with Lee Thomas Miller (Trace Adkins' "You're Gonna Miss This," Jamey Johnson's "In Color").

    "We wrote this with a great songwriter in town named Lee Miller, and it was actually his idea to have these kind of blaming things on each other and this back and forth," said TJ Osborne. "And when he started doing it, I was like 'Man, that's really cool. I've never heard lyrics really delivered like that before.' And we just started coming up with these really fun different things, whether it's blaming the ex for the drinking or the drinking for the ex or it's just whatever order you want to put them in. It was a really, really fun different song, I think."
  • The song's music video was directed by Wes Edwards and Ryan Silver and originated as a comedic spoof on the action film Point Break. John and TJ Osborne portray pawn shop owners who are robbed at gunpoint by four masked men disguised as former presidents. The clip chronicles the consequential police chase.

    "The video treatment to 'It Ain't My Fault' was written by the two directors. "The media these days is flooded with all things presidential and politics," John Osborne noted. "No matter what happens, politicians all seem to pin the blame on something else as opposed to being accountable for their own actions. We felt the connection with the song title was perfect."

    TJ added, "John and I always like song titles that aren't immediately obvious but are common everyday sayings. We're all guilty of saying 'It Ain't My Fault' more so than it actually being true. When our co-writer, Lee Thomas Miller, brought up the idea we loved it. We wanted a video that was as exciting as the music."
  • According to TJ Osborne, the song happened naturally.

    "We just had this riff and John had this drum groove and it sort of happened pretty organically, pretty naturally and pretty quick, and we knew we were onto something really fun," he said. "[It's] kind of a fresh idea of just blaming things on one another, which is something we're all very familiar with and why we then kind of elaborated on that with a video having politicians in it, because I think that's the M-O of any politician that's ever lived."
  • This won Music Video of the Year at the 2018 CMA Awards. Brothers Osborne said:

    "We got a lot of good treatments for the video, but this one seemed to be the most bold and daring, and we laughed the whole time we were reading it. It definitely have a huge political undertone to it, but at the end of the day, we hope people come away laughing because politics these days has been so polarizing and such a dark part of American culture that we want people to be able to laugh at it for a second."
  • Lee Thomas Miller bought the "Blame the this on the this... but it ain't my fault" idea to the session. He told The Tennessean it came from having four kids. "I've always been amazed when I walk in the house and all the stuff is broken, but nobody broke the stuff," he said.

    After suggesting the concept, Miller and the Osborne brothers then wrote the song together on acoustic guitar.

Comments: 2

  • Tom from NcThis is a great video. It demonstrates how effective and attention-getting music and images can be together. Taking the responsibility is often like getting hit in the face by a ball bat. To the directors- Dude, it's political as hell and just right! Hillary givin' Bill the assist & the bookburning and the pinch at the end... Word.
  • Tom from NcThis is a great video. It demonstrates how effective and attention-getting music and images can be together. To the directors- Dude, it's political as hell and just right! Hillary givin' Bill the assist & the bookburning and the pinch at the end... Word
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Edie Brickell

Edie BrickellSongwriter Interviews

Edie Brickell on her collaborations with Paul Simon, Steve Martin and Willie Nelson, and her 2021 album with the New Bohemians.

Rick Springfield

Rick SpringfieldSongwriter Interviews

Rick has a surprising dark side, a strong feminine side and, in a certain TV show, a naked backside. But he still hasn't found Jessie's Girl.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

90s Music Quiz 1

90s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

First question: Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson appeared in videos for what artist?

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

They Might Be Giants

They Might Be GiantsSongwriter Interviews

Who writes a song about a name they found in a phone book? That's just one of the everyday things these guys find to sing about. Anything in their field of vision or general scope of knowledge is fair game. If you cross paths with them, so are you.