Cheatin'

Back in the days before the Gin Blossoms had realized their eventual colossal success, band member Jesse Valenzuela was in a little bar in downtown Tempe, Arizona, with his buddies, trying to think of the "most horrendous country titles" they could come up with. "And my buddy Ricky came up with that one," says Jesse. "'You can't call it cheatin' cuz she reminds me of you.' The song pretty much wrote itself." Co-written with fellow Gin Blossom Doug Hopkins, Jesse tells a story about how they were at a radio station one day for an interview. "It was a lady DJ," recalls Jesse, "I forgot who she was. But she goes, 'I'd like to say I love that song, because it's so funny. But I do find it mildly offensive at the same time. I said, 'Okay, that's good for you.' Because it is kind of a novelty song."

This is the last song on New Miserable Experience, the first Gin Blossoms album issued on a major label (A&M). The album landed four hits (most famously "Hey Jealousy"), and their next album did very well, but then the band broke up in 1997. They got back together a few years later and released their next album, Major Lodge Victory, in 2006.