Cheater, Cheater
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| "Cheater, Cheater" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Joey + Rory | ||||
| from the album The Life of a Song | ||||
| Released | September 17, 2008 | |||
| Genre | Country, bluegrass | |||
| Length | 2:59 | |||
| Label | Sugar Hill / Vanguard | |||
| Songwriters | Rory Feek Joey Feek Kristy Osmunson Wynn Varble | |||
| Producer | Carl Jackson | |||
| Joey + Rory singles chronology | ||||
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"Cheater, Cheater" is the debut single from American country/bluegrass duo Joey + Rory, from their debut album, The Life of a Song. The song debuted on the Hot Country Songs 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, whose version failed to chart after its release as a single.
"Cheater, Cheater" is an up-tempo song with bluegrass influences, including accompaniment from Dobro, mandolin and fiddle. 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.[1] The song was available on iTunes as the "Free Single of the Week" from October 14–21, 2008.[2]
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… [i]t’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."[3]
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.[4]