17 Songs About Infidelity & Cheating
Infidelity is the act of being unfaithful to a spouse or partner. A research paper suggests that around one-third of men and one-quarter of women might get involved in infidelity at a minimum of once in their lifetime. Below is a list of songs about cheating:
1. Taylor Swift – Illicit Affairs
The track goes into the subject of infidelity. It paints a picture of the emotions felt by those indulging in illicit affairs and how real they are. However, these emotions lead to a person lying to everyone around them about it leading to them lying to themselves. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Taylor Swift had this to say about the song:
When I was making folklore, I went lyrically in a total direction of escapism and romanticism. And I wrote songs imagining I was, like, a pioneer woman in a forbidden love affair
2. Beyonce – Ring The Alarm
This is a single from Beyonce’s award-winning, best-selling album B’Day. She sings about suspecting her man of cheating and when she confronts him about it he chooses not to respond to her accusations.
Beyonce states she will not stay in a relationship with an unfaithful partner but doesn’t want another woman to have him or spend his money on expensive things since they are the fruits of the thing she taught him.
3. Taylor Swift – High Infidelity
In this track, Taylor Swift sings about the games played within an unstable relationship and the pain of infidelity caused to both partners in the relationship. “High infidelity” is a term used to describe the worst act of betrayal you could commit in a relationship.
4. Madison Beer – Reckless
This is the first single from Madison’s second studio album MB2. It is generally about how easy it is for some people in relationships to hurt others and then move on without feeling guilty. She shared this on Twitter on where she drew inspiration from:
I made reckless in October of 2020 after finding out my intuition is literally always right and if someone tells you not to worry about someone else but your heart tells you you should…… run
5. Carrie Underwood – Before He Cheats
This is the third single from the album Some Hearts (2005). It was the first country song in history to sell over two million digital copies. In addition to that, it won two Grammy Awards for Best Female Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song.
The main message in the song is basically teaching an unfaithful lover a lesson. She does this by destroying his car which is his most valued possession by digging her key into the side, carving her name into the leather seats and slashing a hole in all four tires.
6. Taylor Swift – Should Have Said No
Taylor Swift sings about a former boyfriend who cheated on her. The boy who is the subject of the song is her high school boyfriend Sam Armstrong who confirmed he was truly in a relationship with Taylor. She makes it clear that she is not giving him another chance since to her all trust has been lost. She believes that the affair was not worth breaking a beautiful relationship.
7. Rihanna – Take A Bow
The track is about Rihanna fully ending her relationship with her ex due to his actions of infidelity. She is tired of hearing his excuses and wants him to know it’s over for good. He had fake remorse for his past actions that almost made Rihanna believe him and now she refers to it as a theatrical performance.
The song debuted at #53 and peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was certified 6x multi-platinum by the RIAA.
8. Rihanna – We Ride
The song is about an ex-lover who broke his promise of remaining faithful in a relationship. In an interview with MTV, Rihanna had this to say about the song: “It is about this guy saying over and over again, ‘When we ride, we ride, we’re gonna be together until the day that we die’, promising all these things then it turns out he broke all of his promises.”
9. Rihanna – Unfaithful
The ballad is off the album A Girl Like Me. Rihanna describes the painful experience her boyfriend is going through because of her infidelity. She feels guilty for hurting him and calls herself a murderer for feeling like she is destroying his life.
10. Jason Derulo – Whatchasay
The song is an apology by a man who regrets cheating on his girl and has now been caught. Jason revealed that it is about his brother who called him one day and shared that he just cheated on his girl who he loves so much. The story was so inspirational that he went into the studio and came up with a track. In the end, everything worked out for his brother.
11. Shawn Mendes, Camila Cabello – I Know What You Did Last Summer
Camila stated that the song is basically a conversation between two people in a relationship that is dying but nobody wants to admit that it is. Shawn confronts his lover about a secret that she kept which is her cheating during the summer period. Camila on the other hand wonders where he was when she needed him emotionally. The line “can’t seem to let you go” is about that weird period when you find out you’re being played but haven’t said anything to the person yet. You just feel awkward and distant.
12. Sugarland feat Taylor Swift – Babe
Many fans believe that the track is about actor Jake Gyllenhaal. He dated Taylor Swift but their relationship ended due to infidelity. Taylor Swift felt the song didn’t fit with her album Red hence decided to share it with Sugarland.
13. Olivia Rodrigo – Traitor
In this track, Olivia is reflecting on what went wrong in a past relationship and the feeling of being betrayed and still missing what she had. She had this to say about the track’s chorus. “It’s a really concise way of expressing that super painful feeling of betrayal that you get when someone you knew so well moves on so quickly.”
14. Justin Timberlake – Cry Me A River
This is the second single from his debut studio album Justified (2002). The inspiration behind it was his relationship with Britney Spears. He had uncovered an alleged affair with Wade Robson after discovering a note in Britney’s room on the night the two of them were scheduled to appear on SNL. Justin refused to reconcile.
15. Trey Songz – Last Time
This is a track from the album Trey Day (2007). Lyrically, Trey sings about wanting to break it off with his side chick since things are getting too hot and he risks getting caught by his main chick.
16. Usher – Confessions Part 2
The song is a confession of a man to his woman about his impregnating his mistress. He was confused about how he is going to break the news to his girl but decided to not overthink things and just tell her what had happened.
17. Trey Songz – Smartphones
The single is about Trey Songz getting caught cheating because of an accidental pocket dial that led to his girlfriend listening in on his sexual affairs with other women. He needs to figure out an excuse so as to try and save their relationship.