Song History
In the late 1940s, Wells had recorded on RCA Victor, but had little success there. By 1952, she was recording on Decca Records, and recorded "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels" at her first recording session.
In "The Wild Side of Life," Thompson expresses regret his bride-to-be has left him for another man whom she met in a roadhouse, stating, "I didn't know that God made honky tonk angels." That song and its appeal to people who "thought the world was going to hell and that faithless women deserved a good deal of the blame ... just begged for an answer from a woman".
The rebuttal song, as it turned out, was written by Jay Miller, although it was Wells who made it a hit. In "It Wasn't God ..." – which follows the same melody, but more uptempo – she cites the original song and counters that, for every woman who had been led astray, it was a man who led her there (often through his own infidelity). She also expresses frustration about how women are always made scapegoats for the man's faults in a given relationship.
- Refrain: It wasn't God who made honky tonk angels As you said in the words of your song. Too many times married men think they're still single And that's caused many a good girl to go wrong.
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