When I Think About Cheatin'

Album: Here For The Party (2004)
Charted: 39
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Songfacts®:

  • A very empathetic song, "When I Think About Cheatin'" finds Gretchen Wilson resisting the urge to stray by imagining how she would feel if her man did that to her. The answer: she would fall to pieces, just like in the Patsy Cline song.
  • The song was the third single from Gretchen Wilson's debut album, Here For The Party, following "Redneck Woman" and the title track. Those songs are both rowdy and fun; "When I Think About Cheatin'" is a ballad in the style of classic country, with plenty of twang. It showed Wilson as a multifarious artist, but she remained best known for her "Redneck Woman" persona. When she made a comeback by winning The Masked Singer in 2025, casual fans were surprised to find out she could belt out ballads like "Saving All My Love For You" and "I'll Stand By You."
  • Wilson wrote the song with John Rich of Big & Rich along with his writing partner Vicky McGehee. Rich and McGehee's other collaborations include "Johnny Cash" by Jason Aldean and "California" by Tim McGraw. Rich also wrote "Redneck Woman" with Wilson.
  • The music video starts with Wilson, John Rich and friends outside the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Rick pulls on the door, and when it opens, they enter and Wilson sings the song on stage as ghosts from various musicians appear to accompany her.

    According to Wilson, it's based on a real event when she and Rich entered the venue surreptitiously and she went on stage to sing. "We did feel like there were ghosts in the room," Wilson said.

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