'Things a Man Oughta Know': The Story Behind Lainey Wilson's CMA-Nominated Hit

Lainey Wilson is one of the top rising artists in country music today. She leads the nominations at the upcoming CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 9, with six nods, and her latest album Bell Bottom Country, was released released on Oct. 28. Wilson reached her current status of rising star after years of working her way up the ranks in Nashville, Tenn, and her hard work came to fruition when she released her 2020 single, "Things a Man Oughta Know."

Although the tune is a heartbreak song, it may not immediately strike listeners that way. Wilson starts off the song by singing about some of the more "manly" tasks that she happily knows how to do, calling them "Things a Man Oughta Know."

"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 a road / Yeah, I know a few things a man oughta know," she sings in the first verse.

She continues with this theme of life skills a man should know in the chorus, but she extends it to the ways a man should act in a relationship. The context of the song clearly reveals that she's been left heartbroken by someone, and she powerfully explains what the man in the song did wrong.

"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 / And yeah, I know a boy / Who gave up and got it wrong / If you really love a woman, you don't let her go /Yeah, I know a few things a man oughta know," she sings.

Wilson has writing credits on the song along with Jason Nix and Jonathan Singleton, but she says the initial idea for the tune didn't come from her. Nix brought the idea to the writing session, and it spawned a conversation about the things everyone should know in life.

"We got to talking about my childhood and the things that my parents thought I needed to know," she once told iHeartMedia's Cody Alan. ". . . It's not about if you can change a tire or start a fire. It's about having a good character. It's about treating people the way you want to be treated."

Once Wilson and the writers applied that theme to a relationship and a man failing the test of "Things a Man Oughta Know," the hit song was born. The song became Wilson's first-ever No. 1 hit in September 2021, and it set her up for a career trajectory that has since included another No. 1 song, all-star collaborations, a role in the hit show Yellowstone and plenty of award show nominations. "Things a Man Oughta Know" is up for Song of the Year at the CMA Awards on Wednesday, Nov. 9 on ABC.

In addition to her song of the year nod, Wilson is up for Female Vocalist of the Year, New Artist of the Year, Album of the Year for Sayin' What I'm Thinkin' and Musical Event and Video of the Year for "Never Say Never" with Cole Swindell.

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