# What are some songs written from the cheating, scumbags viewpoint? Romantic infidelity at its best. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 29, 2014, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543 "2014-05-29T05:23:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/41 "2014-05-29T14:59:37Z")
Robert Cray’s “[Strong Persuader](http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/robert_cray/right_next_door_because_of_me.html)” is told from the point of view of the “other man”. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/42 "2014-05-29T15:22:06Z")
“Creep” - TLC ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/43 "2014-05-29T15:30:02Z")
Toby Keith, [A Little Less Talk And A Lot More Action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI7YzUKE_wI) And I enthusiastically second (third? fifth?) Gin Blossom’s [Cheatin’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IakCPeyFQ6c&index=12&list=ALBTKoXRg38BDzsXdmYvJl0YUHNZDjHfW2) ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/44 "2014-05-29T15:30:46Z")
A great '60s jazz tune by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh called “**When In Rome (I Do As The Romans Do)**”; popular recordings include those by Peggy Lee and Blossom Dearie. In part:\*If, perchance, I’m saying farewell to France and romance drops in from the blue Cher amour, I beg of you, please endure my taking a brief detour with somebody new It’s just that when in Rome I do as the Romans do \* ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/45 "2014-05-29T15:31:18Z")
Going back a little on the R&B side: Secret Lovers and Sorry 2004. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/46 "2014-05-29T15:37:34Z")
Ray Parker Jr.'s “The Other Woman” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RA-4F6l-jr4/hqdefault.jpg "Ray Parker Jr - The Other Woman") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA-4F6l-jr4) ---
**Author:** ![tripthicket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripthicket/32/297_2.png) [@tripthicket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tripthicket)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/47 "2014-05-29T15:39:20Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > Not sure if this one would count, since technically he’s only _trying_, and it winds up being his “own lovely lady” anyway, but maybe Rupert Holmes “Escape (The Piña Colada Song)” ? :dubious: > > [Lyrics](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rupertholmes/escapethepiacoladasong.html) I was in my salad days when this was being played on Top 40 radio stations, so I enjoyed it rather mindlessly as another catchy tune. From an older perspective, I see the very casual attitude toward infidelity: “Work out your problems like 2 adults? Nah, let’s surf the personal ads.” And note, too, that the singer is the _second_ person in this relationship to start straying – it was her ad he was responding to, so she’s not an innocent in this. Man, I am way overthinking this stuff. :o ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/48 "2014-05-29T15:39:34Z")
Bruce Springsteen’s “One Step Up” and Mark Chesnutt’s “Too Cold at Home” both end with an unhappily married man sitting at a bar and getting ready to pick up a cute girl there. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/49 "2014-05-29T15:43:09Z")
“Angel in Your Arms” by Hot is about a wife who gets back on her cheating husband by having affairs of her own ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/50 "2014-05-29T15:51:03Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > “Me and Mrs Jones” is from the POV of a guy having an affair with a married woman :smack: Misread this as “Me and Mr. Jones” now have an earworm of Counting Crows’ “Mr. Jones” and am questioning my interpretation of the lyrics! :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/51 "2014-05-29T15:52:06Z")
“Back Door Man” The Doors “You Know That I’m No Good” Amy Winehouse ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/52 "2014-05-29T15:59:01Z")
In the bluegrass genre there’s["Carolyn at the Broken Wheel Inn"](http://www.metrolyrics.com/carolyn-at-the-broken-wheel-inn-lyrics-dry-branch-fire-squad.html) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/53 "2014-05-29T16:13:59Z")
REM’s “The One I Love” is a song notifying the singer’s wife or girlfriend that he’s been cheating on her. Elton John had “Part-Time Love” (not to be confused with Stevie Wonder’s “Part-Time Lover”). Del Amitiri’s “The Last To Know” starts off as a self-pitying song about a man whose love has left him… but ends with him telling her that he himself had been cheating on her. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/54 "2014-05-29T16:17:29Z")
Phoebe Snow’s “Poetry Man” is about a woman having an affair with a married man. Probably doesn’t count. The Smithereens’ “Strangers When We Meet” is about a married woman breaking off her affair with a married man. Squeeze’s “Goodbye Girl” is about a married man who takes a girl to a motel. She robs him and sneaks out on him in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/55 "2014-05-29T16:21:07Z")
Old 97s’ “Designs on You” is from the viewpiont of a guy trying to get a girl to cheat on her fiancee/husband with him. I’d say that counts. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/56 "2014-05-29T16:26:02Z")
“Harbor LeCou”, performed by Great Big Sea and possibly others. A married fisherman visits a seashore community and tries to pick up a date. He forgot that the town was his wife’s hometown and people remember him :smack:. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/57 "2014-05-29T16:53:44Z")
“Leaving on a Jet Plane” in passing reveals the narrator as a (presumably ex-?) cheater: _There’s so many times I’ve let you down, So many times I’ve played around; I tell you now, they don’t mean a thing…_ ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/58 "2014-05-29T17:07:30Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > Off the top of my head > > “Run to You” - Bryan Adams > “The Wanderer” - Dion > “Picture” - Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow > “Lips of an Angel” - Hinder > “Your Love” - The Outfield > > probably more to follow when I get a chance to think about it. I’ve heard “Run To You” played at weddings. :smack: “Your Love” is also about a guy who’s cheating with someone who’s underage. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/59 "2014-05-29T17:16:57Z")
Kate Bush’s _Babooshka_ is sort of related, although no actual infidelity takes place. A wife suspects her husband of cheating, and adopts a false identity to seduce him, ultimately arranging a meeting in disguise. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543/60 "2014-05-29T17:18:36Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > :smack: > Misread this as “Me and Mr. Jones” now have an earworm of Counting Crows’ “Mr. Jones” and am questioning my interpretation of the lyrics! :dubious: In this particular case, trephination may be required. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-some-songs-written-from-the-cheating-scumbags-viewpoint-romantic-infidelity-at-its-best/689543.md?page=4)