"Cheater, Cheater" is the debut single from American

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

/ bluegrass duo

Joey + Rory Joey + Rory was an American country and bluegrass duo composed of singer-songwriters Rory Lee Feek (born April 25, 1965) and Joey Feek (September 9, 1975 – March 4, 2016), who were husband and wife. Both members of the duo were vocalists and ...

, from their debut album, '' The Life of a Song''. The song debuted on the

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data from Nielsen BDS along with digital sal ...

chart at #57 for the chart week of September 27, 2008. Co-written by both Joey and Rory, the song was originally recorded by country duo

Bomshel Bomshel (pronounced "bombshell") was an American country music duo founded in 2005 by lead vocalist Buffy "Buf" Lawson and backing vocalist/fiddle player Kristy Osmunson. Signed to Curb Records in 2005, Bomshel's original lineup charted four sing ...

, whose version failed to chart after its release as a single.

Content

"Cheater, Cheater" is an up-tempo song with bluegrass influences, including accompaniment from

Dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

and

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

. The female narrator, in the lyric, asks her unfaithful partner where he met "that no-good, white-trash ho" (i.e., his mistress). Several remixes have been made for the song, including the Sleighbell Mix and King Mix. The Sleighbell Mix was released as a Christmas promo single, in which the word ho becomes ho-ho-ho and bells are added to the music. The song was available on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

as the "Free Single of the Week" from October 14–21, 2008.

Critical reception

Reviews of "Cheater, Cheater" have been positive. Roughstock.com said that "'Cheater, Cheater' is an honest-to-God pure country song that jumps out of the speakers. With lyrics that find Joey as the woman who's been cheated on… ’s three minutes of tempo and while it remains to be seen whether radio will embrace this truly country duo, songs like 'Cheater, Cheater"'are what makes country music what it is: honest, true to life music." Engine 145 critic Matt C. gave the song a "thumbs up" rating. He called it a "delightfully acoustic barn-burner" and said "it’s arresting to hear what nearly qualifies as a bluegrass song performed by a strait-laced contemporary country singer", although he criticized Joey's "oddly phrased and somewhat colorless" lead vocals and Rory's "barely audible" backing vocals.

Music video

A music video directed by Peter Zavadil was released to accompany the song. In the video, Joey is seen following Rory around, confronting him over cheating on her. Mixed in are scenes of the duo performing the song together in happy moods. The video ends with a cameo from

Naomi Judd Naomi Judd (born Diana Ellen Judd; January 11, 1946 – April 30, 2022) was an American singer and actress. In 1980, she and her daughter Wynonna (born Christina Claire) formed the duo known as The Judds, which became a very successful country ...

playing the "ho".

Chart performance

The Joey + Rory version of "Cheater, Cheater" debuted at #57 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

chart for the chart week of September 27, 2008, and entered the Top 40 in its eighth week. The song peaked at #30 in January 2009, spending 20 weeks on the chart. The song has sold 367,000 copies in the US as of March 2016.

References

{{authority control 2008 debut singles 2008 songs Joey + Rory songs Bomshel songs Songs written by Rory Feek Songs written by Wynn Varble Music videos directed by Peter Zavadil Songs about infidelity