Scornful Woman

Album: released as a single (2025)
Charted: 102
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Oliver Anthony (real name: Christopher Lunsford) was married to Tiffany Lunsford for several years, and the couple had children together, including one born as recently as October 2023. Anthony wrote "Scornful Woman" about their divorce and the legal and financial battles that followed his rapid rise to fame and fortune after his breakout hit "Rich Men North Of Richmond."
  • The song is Anthony's raw, blues-soaked reaction to divorce court and its accompanying headaches: custody battles, asset wrangling, and the disorienting feeling of becoming rich and famous just as your personal life falls apart. Released on June 4, 2025, while his divorce was still grinding its way through the system, the track carries the sting of fresh wounds.
  • Anthony roped in Billy Contreras, a fiddle wizard known for touring with Ricky Skaggs, and guitarist Joey Davis to play on the song. Both also have writing credits, their contributions turning "Scornful Woman" into a fiery blues-rock hybrid.
  • Draven Riffe produced "Scornful Woman." He helps run the RadioWV YouTube channel, the very outlet that launched Anthony into the spotlight with "Rich Men North of Richmond."
  • The recording has a backwoods, seat-of-the-pants charm. In January 2025, a snowstorm buried Anthony's West Virginia home just as the band was hauling gear up the mountain. Then the power went out. Salvation came in the form of the last generator at the Lowe's in Bluefield, plus a shopping cart's worth of extension cords. "I guess you could technically say this song is gas powered," Anthony quipped.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Amanda Palmer

Amanda PalmerSongwriter Interviews

Call us crazy, but we like it when an artist comes around who doesn't mesh with the status quo.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy Talent

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.

Chris Frantz of Talking Heads

Chris Frantz of Talking HeadsSongwriter Interviews

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz on where the term "new wave" originated, the story of "Naive Melody," and why they never recorded another cover song after "Take Me To The River."

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular Music

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.

Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull

Ian Anderson of Jethro TullSongwriter Interviews

The flautist frontman talks about touring with Led Zeppelin, his contribution to "Hotel California", and how he may have done the first MTV Unplugged.

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger

Kelly Keagy of Night RangerSongwriter Interviews

Kelly Keagy of Night Ranger tells the "Sister Christian" story and explains why he started sweating when he saw it in Boogie Nights.