Homewrecker (song)

This article is about the 2005 Gretchen Wilson song. For other songs with this title, see Homewrecker (disambiguation).
"Homewrecker"
This is the cover art of Gretchen Wilson's song "Homewrecker".
Single by Gretchen Wilson
from the album Here for the Party
ReleasedFebruary 22, 2005 (2005-02-22)
Genre
Length3:26
LabelEpic Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Gretchen Wilson singles chronology
"When I Think About Cheatin'"
(2004) 		"Homewrecker"
(2005) 		"All Jacked Up"
(2005)

"Homewrecker" is a song by American country music artist Gretchen Wilson, released on February 22, 2005, as the fourth and final single from her debut studio album Here for the Party (2004). It was written by Wilson, George Teren, and Rivers Rutherford, with the song also being produced by Joe Scaife and Mark Wright. It peaked at number two on the US Hot Country Songs chart.

Content

In "Homewrecker," the female narrator addresses another female who wants to commit adultery with the narrator's lover. The narrator refers to this other woman as a "homewrecker," and threatens to "go to kickin' [her] pretty little butt.".[1]

Critical reception

Johnny Loftus of Allmusic said that Wilson "happily belts out the harder edges" of the song, contrasting it with Wilson's vocal performance on the ballad "When I Think About Cheatin'."[2] In Rolling Stone, Jon Caramanica also contrasted "Homewrecker" with other songs on the album, saying that its role of "moral arbiter" was "just as impassioned" as the other "country persona[s]" on the album.[3] Stylus Magazine critic Josh Love compared the song's sound to that of the Dixie Chicks and said that it was "less about cloistered worship than a real-world application of the life-affirming principles first put forth by" the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain.[4] Kevin John Coyne, reviewing the song for Country Universe, gave it a negative rating. He stated that the song sounds like more of "a rip-off of than a homage to Loretta Lynn."[5]

Commercial performance

"Homewrecker" debuted on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs charts dated for the week ending January 29, 2005. The song reached a peak of number two and held that position for three weeks, spending a total of twenty weeks on the charts.[6] It was Wilson's fourth consecutive chart hit, making her the first female artist to send her first four singles into the country top ten since Deana Carter did so with "Strawberry Wine", "We Danced Anyway", "Count Me In", and "How Do I Get There" between 1996 and 1997.[7]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2005) Peak
position
Canada Country (Radio & Records)[8] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[9] 56
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[10] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (2005) Position
US Country Songs (Billboard)[11] 33

Release history

Release dates and format(s) for "Homewrecker"
Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United States February 22, 2005 Country radio Epic Nashville [12]

References

  1. ^ Joe Heim (19 May 2004). "Don't Let Her Name Fool You". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  2. ^ Johnny Loftus. "Here for the Party review". Allmusic. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  3. ^ Jon Caramanica (24 June 2004). "Here for the Party review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  4. ^ Josh Love (21 June 2004). "Gretchen Wilson — Here for the Party". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  5. ^ Coyne, Kevin John (2005-02-11). "Gretchen Wilson - "Homewrecker"". Country Universe. Retrieved 2010-06-17.
  6. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 471. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.
  7. ^ Fred Bronson (16 April 2005). "Chart Beat: No. 1 Wilson Drives a 4×4". Billboard. p. 61.
  8. ^ "Canada Country Top 30" (PDF). Radio & Records. May 6, 2005.
  9. ^ "Gretchen Wilson Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  10. ^ "Gretchen Wilson Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
  11. ^ "Best of 2005: Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2005. Retrieved July 11, 2012.
  12. ^ "Going for Adds" (PDF). Radio & Records. February 18, 2005.