Not all of country music is sweet love songs and feel-good singles. Some of country music’s best songs are about getting someone back after being done wrong. These are three of the most scathing country songs, all about seeking revenge.
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“Gunpowder & Lead” by Miranda Lambert
“Gunpowder & Lead” is written by Miranda Lambert and Heather Little. Out in 2008 on Lambert’s sophomore Crazy Ex-Girlfriend album, the song is all about a woman who plans on getting back at her significant other, after he gets out of jail, where he presumably went for abuse.
“Gunpowder & Lead” says, “I’m goin’ home, gonna load my shotgun / Wait by the door, and light a cigarette / If he wants a fight, well, now he’s got one / And he ain’t seen me crazy yet / He slapped my face, and he shook me like a rag doll / Don’t that sound like a real man / I ‘m gonna show him what little girls are made of / Gunpowder and lead.”
According to Songfacts, Lambert had the idea for the line, “I’m gonna show him what little girls are made of / Gunpowder and lead,” while in a concealed handgun class.
“The Thunder Rolls” by Garth Brooks
Garth Brooks wrote “The Thunder Rolls” with Pat Alger. The song, out as a single in 1991, is on Brooks’ second studio album, No Fences.
“The Thunder Rolls” tells the story of a woman who is relieved over her husband’s safe arrival in the middle of the night, during a thunderstorm. Her relief is short-lived, however, when she smells a “strange new perfume,” vowing he will never cheat on her again.
“The Thunder Rolls” concludes with, “She runs back down the hallway, and through the bedroom door / She reaches for the pistol kept in the dresser drawer / Tells the lady in the mirror, ‘He won’t do this again’ / ‘Cause tonight will be the last time she’ll wonder where he’s been / The thunder rolls, and the lightnin’ strikes / Another love grows cold on a sleepless night / As the storm blows on out of control / Deep in her heart the thunder rolls.”
“Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood
Cheaters beware, at least in this Carrie Underwood classic. Written by Chris Tompkins and Josh Kear, “Before He Cheats” came out in 2006 on Underwood’s freshman Some Hearts record.
“Before He Cheats” says, “I dug my key into the side / Of his pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive / Carved my name into his leather seats / I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights / Slashed a hole in all four tires / Maybe next time, he’ll think before he cheats.”
One of Underwood’s biggest hits, the song was actually written for another female artist instead.
“It didn’t start off as a song for Carrie,” Tompkins tells The Tennessean. “It basically started off as a song for Gretchen Wilson. I went to a computer and was just typing what I wanted to be edgy lyrics. After the success of ‘Redneck Woman’, everyone wanted to get on the next [Wilson] record. I typed up part of that verse and thought I had something kind of cool.”
Photo by Kevin Winter/ACMA/Getty Images for ACMA
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