There are very few true overnight sensations in the music world. In most cases, there are periods of struggle and striving, with massive success only coming once some difference-making song serves as the spark. For Lainey Wilson, that song was “Things a Man Oughta Know,” the single that brought her to the Nashville big leagues. She has proven that she belonged there with every subsequent release since that song, which first arrived in 2019.
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Now that Wilson is riding high on her bestselling, award-winning 2022 release, Bell Bottom Country, it’s a great time to look back at the song that proved to be the catalyst. What exactly are the “Things a Man Oughta Know?” And how did Lainey Wilson turn them into such a winning hit, one that helped catapult her from obscurity? Read on and find out.
Lainey’s Liftoff
Wilson wasn’t yet 20 years old when she left her small-town home of Baskin, Louisiana, to try and make it in Nashville. As a kid, her parents had encouraged her love for performing, but she found the early going in the country music capital of the world a bit tough. Little by little, she made some headway through a combination of talent and persistence.
Wilson released a self-titled album on an independent label in 2014, all the while working diligently to make ends meet as a songwriter and performer. Her ascent wasn’t so much a meteoric rise as it was a steady, uphill climb, one which led to another album in 2016 on a different label than the first. Confident in her ability even though she hadn’t yet stumbled upon her big break, she self-released an EP in 2018, which helped her secure both a management and a songwriting deal.
[RELATED: Lainey Wilson Shares Secrets to Her Success During GRAMMY Museum Q&A]
By 2019, it was time for Wilson to move on to a major label. In the music world these days, such deals aren’t exactly accompanied by a lot of patience. For Wilson, that first shot would be her 2019 EP Redneck Hollywood. The girl who would come to embody “Bell Bottom Country” clearly had an understanding for the importance of both branding and a catchy title. But without great songs on that release, and at least one real attention-grabber, it’s hard to say if she would have received such a great opportunity again.
But Wilson had the goods. In particular, she had a song that looked at gender relations in a novel and engaging way, all while including enough of a personal touch to make it relatable. She was ready to unleash “Things a Man Oughta Know” on the world.
Making a List
“Things a Man Oughta Know” was born of a songwriting session with Wilson and co-writers Jonathan Singleton and Jason Nix. Considering the song features such a sharp female perspective, some might be surprised to know that the original idea for the track came from Nix. But, as Wilson explained to Songwriter Universe, the topic was one she felt uniquely qualified to discuss.
“He (Nix) was like, ‘Man, it’d be cool to run it by Lainey and see what her thoughts are.’ When he brought up the title, I said, ‘Y’all gonna be here all day long, because there’s a long list of the things that you men oughta know’ (laughs). Then when we were writing it, we just dove into my childhood. You know, I’m from a very blue-collar farming community…my parents made sure that I knew how to do stuff around a farm. So we talked about that for a while, and we dove deeper and talked about the characteristics that my parents taught me to look for in myself and in other people…choosing who I’m surrounding myself with in life.”
What’s the Meaning of “Things a Man Oughta Know”?
What’s so clever about “Things a Man Oughta Know,” which builds from a lovely acoustic opening into lush choruses, is how it insinuates that the activities she’s referencing are things that she, as a woman, can already handle quite well:
I can hook a trailer on a two-inch hitch
I can shoot a shotgun, I can catch a fish
I can change a tire on the side of the road
Yeah, I know a few things a man oughta know
But that opening verse turns out to be a bit of misdirection. Because what’s actually most important to the narrator has nothing to do with physical feats. In the chorus, what she wants a man to understand becomes clear:
How to know when it’s love
How to stay when it’s tough
How to know you’re messin’ up a good thing
And how to fix it ‘fore it’s too late
A little pathos enters the picture when she admits that one of her exes couldn’t quite pass these tests, specifically the following: If you really love a woman, you don’t let her go / Yeah, I know a few things a man oughta know.
Lainey as Marriage Counselor
When an artist puts a song out into the world, they can never quite be sure how people will respond to it. In the case of Lainey Wilson and “Things a Man Oughta Know,” she found herself getting suggestions from fans for other “things” that should be added to the list that she compiles in the lyrics. But what surprised her most, she told Taste of Country, was when the song actually helped out a couple who were struggling defining their marital duties:
“This lady was telling me the other day, too, about her and her husband were having problems and about to get a divorce. She sent the song over to her husband and she said now they’re better than ever. He really took the song to heart.”
Now that’s an impressive song. Not only did “Things a Man Oughta Know” help propel Lainey Wilson to country music stardom, it also saved a marriage. If only all songs were as useful.
Photo by: Roxy Moure / Flytevu
