It was just one listen and knowing she would record it.ĬT: I thought the record was just amazing. She listened to it once and said, “I’m cutting that song.” There was no discussion of putting it on hold or just letting us know they would sit with it. Somebody on the label had come up, played her the demo. We were told that the first time Carrie heard this song, it was during the American Idol tour and it was in the back of the plane as they were getting ready to fly from one location of that tour, to the next. JK: Well, obviously, the Gretchen thing had passed. “Jesus, Take the Wheel” is on that record and earlier we had talked about this and I had kind of forgotten this timeline, but how does Carrie get the song? That album is going to be HUGE!” I had no reason not to believe him, but even hearing him say it, I (still) had no idea what was coming.īH: Well, Carrie Underwood is a once in every three-generation entertainer. I obviously didn’t watch much television at the time, and he said, “No, you don’t understand. I was like, “Dude, that’s great! I don’t know who Carrie Underwood is, but that’s awesome!” He schooled me very quickly in American Idol and the fact that she had just won. JK: I get a phone call from Chris telling me that I won’t believe it, but Carrie Underwood is going to record our song. Even if it’s just a first line, usually with Chris, it’s really dang good.īH: Y’all had just finished this great song for her - (but) that doesn’t happen. I kind of feel that way a lot with Chris when he walks in with something already going. This isn’t just another co-writing session. JK: It was easy to say it was different and unique. I typed up part of that verse and thought I had something kind of cool. After the success of “Redneck Woman,” everyone wanted to get on the next (Gretchen) record. I went to a computer and was just typing what I wanted to be edgy lyrics. It basically started off as a song for Gretchen Wilson. They told the story behind the song to Bart Herbison of Nashville Songwriters Association International.īart Herbison: I don’t think this started out as a song for (Underwood), right?”Ĭhris Tompkins: It didn’t start off as a song for Carrie. Songwriters Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins knew they were onto something from those first two words: “Right now.” But at first, they had a very different idea of which country artist they were writing for. There’s no “next time” for a song like Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” - a 2006 genre-defying country smash whose success simply cannot be repeated. “I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights/ I slashed a hole in all four tires/ Maybe next time he’ll think before he cheats.”
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