The untold story behind the song that transformed Lainey Wilson’s career—and why it still hits so powerfully today.ML
Lainey Wilson is the opposite of an overnight success story. Wilson spent years living in Nashville, trying to find success as a singer and songwriter. She released a few albums on her own, before first signing a publishing deal, followed by getting a record deal with BBR Music Group.
Wilson’s debut Sayin’ What I’m Thinkin’ album came out in 2021. Her first single, “Dirty Looks”, failed to chart on the radio. But her second single, “Things A Man Oughta Know“, became Wilson’s first No. 1 hit, and her tenure as a country music superstar was officially underway.
Wilson wrote “Things A Man Oughta Know” with Jason Nix and Jonathan Singleton. Not only did the song become her first of several singles to land at the top of the charts, but it also earned Wilson an ACM Award for Song of the Year.
Wilson, of course, went on to have numerous hit singles, including “Watermelon Moonshine” and her current “Somewhere Over Laredo” single. But all of her success started with “Things A Man Oughta Know”.
The Story Behind “Things A Man Oughta Know” by Lainey Wilson
“Things A Man Oughta Know” says in part, “If I can’t have it, I can do without / I can hang a picture same as I can take it down / And how to keep it hidden when a heart gets broke / Yeah, I know a few things a man oughta know.“
It was Nix who had the idea for the song, but it resonated with Wilson as soon as she heard it.
“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,’” the Louisiana native tells Songwriter Universe with a laugh. “Then, when we were writing it, we just dove into my childhood. 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.”
Wilson puts herself in almost all of her songs. But she admits there is something special about her relationship to “Things A Man Oughta Know”.
“It really is who I am to my core, and what I stand for,” Wilson says. “And that’s treating people with kindness and having good character. And that’s not just something that a man oughta know. It’s what every single one of us should know.”
