Songfacts®:

• Louisiana native Lainey Wilson's full Southern sass is characteristic of her styling. The title of her second album, Sayin' What I'm Thinkin', sums up her feisty personality and its lead single, "Things A Man Oughta Know," finds her teaching men a few lessons about life.
• Among the advice Wilson dishes out to menfolk is not letting go of the woman you love when things get tough and learning how to treat people right. She told the UK newspaper The Sun: "It's a song about having good character and discernment. It is not really about whether you can change a flat tire or start a fire; you can just YouTube that stuff. It's all about the way you treat someone. That's something every single one of us all to know."
• Wilson wrote the song with Jason Nix and Jonathan Singleton after Nix arrived at their session with the title idea. The three started talking about all the things they thought a man ought to know while drinking a pot of coffee. "The list was way too long so we condensed that list," she told Digital Journal. "We discussed my childhood and the things that my parents taught me growing up. This song is really about having good character."
• Lainey's longtime friend Sean O'Halloran co-directed the video alongside Chris Ashlee. The clip, which stresses the importance of discernment, especially when character and intention are at odds, is filled with personal elements and close friends. They include O'Halloran's daughter and Luke Combs' band member, Kurt Ozan.
• Released on August 24, 2020, the song became Wilson's first Hot 100 hit when it entered the Hot 100 dated May 29, 2021.
• Following some successful independent releases, Wilson signed a recording contract with Broken Bow Records. The Jay Joyce-produced Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' is her first album with the label.
• When Wilson, Nix and Singleton were writing this song, they brainstormed Wilson's childhood to dig up some of the essential lessons her parents taught her growing up. "This song right here is about the characteristics that my family taught me to look for in myself, but also in other people," she told Audacy's Kelly Ford. "That's not something just a man ought know, that's something that every single on of us should know."
• While the song sends out a serious message of promoting kindness and human respect, Wilson admitted she and the other two writers came up with some amusing ideas for the lyrics. An example she gave was men who don't put the toilet lid down.
• Lainey Wilson took home the Song of the Year trophy at the 2022 ACM Awards for this track. The Louisiana native told the audience her song isn't just about treating a man right. "It's about treating people right," she stressed. "It's the Golden Rule, y'all."