Between The Cheats

Album: Lioness: Hidden Treasures (2011)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This Amy Winehouse composition was recorded in London in May 2008 for potential inclusion on her third album. Tragically the English songstress passed away before the LP was completed, but it was included on her postosthumous long player, Lioness: Hidden Treasures. According to frequent Winehouse cohort Salaam Remi, who produced the song, the track's heavy doo wop influence, "shows one of the main directions in which she was heading."
  • Speaking with Billboard magazine, Remi explained that Winehouse came to him after a much-publicized opportunity to record the theme for the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace fell apart. "She was a bit upset," by the whole episode and told Remi she had this new song "with the lyrics written down." He continued: "She picked up a guitar and gave me her first chord. I asked what she wanted it to sound like and she said, 'doo wop.' I said give me 20 minutes. Amy took her time writing her lyrics. They meant everything to her; she was single at the time. It was one take."
  • Remi said to NME regarding the song's meaning: "She was talking about a relationship, what went on between the cheaters. It was her classic wordplay to link it back to between the sheets."
  • Amy Winehouse spent 10 days in Miami in 2005 laying down a string of songs with Salaam Remi at his Instrumental Zoo Studios. One day, he asked Winehouse if she had anything else she'd been working on and the singer opened her book to show him a lyric titled "Between The Cheats."

    "She grabs the guitar, and she starts playing around with it," he recalled to Mojo magazine. "She starts mumbling, a little bit with the lyrics. So, I played a little bit of piano, a little bit of guitar. Put bass and the drums on it. Then she goes in the booth and she basically sang the song."

Comments: 1

  • Vera from Virginia Beach, Va. UsaSo Beautiful. So sad. So Tragic.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Chris Fehn of Slipknot

Chris Fehn of SlipknotSongwriter Interviews

A drummer for one of the most successful metal bands of the last decade, Chris talks about what it's like writing and performing with Slipknot. Metal-neck is a factor.

Tom Keifer of Cinderella

Tom Keifer of CinderellaSongwriter Interviews

Tom talks about the evolution of Cinderella's songs through their first three albums, and how he writes as a solo artist.

Ed Roland of Collective Soul

Ed Roland of Collective SoulSongwriter Interviews

The stories behind "Shine," "December," "The World I Know" and other Collective Soul hits.

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.