"Better Do Better" is the fifth single from English band

Hard-Fi Hard-Fi are an English indie rock band, formed in 2003 in Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey. The band's most recent lineup before going on hiatus consisted of Richard Archer (lead vocals and guitar), Kai Stephens (bass guitar and backing vocals) and S ...

, taken from their 2005 debut album, ''

Stars of CCTV ''Stars of CCTV'' is the debut studio album by English indie rock band Hard-Fi. It was first released on 4 July 2005 through Necessary Records and Atlantic Records. It received positive reviews from critics and was nominated for the 2005 Mercury ...

''. It was released on 10 April 2006, when it reached number 14 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, sharing a similar chart success with all the other singles released from ''Stars of CCTV''. The video was directed by Richard Skinner with Alex Smith acting as

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...

. The

Maxi CD A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

version of the single contains exclusive

U-MYX U-MYX was a music format launched in 2004 which allowed a user to arrange and create their own mix of songs by known music artists. The U-MYX Software is available on CDs (usually on the artist's single release as an Enhanced Section on the CD) a ...

software to create a mix of " Hard to Beat". The song features in the ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growing ...

'' episode " Small Worlds".

History

Compared to the rest of the ''

'' album, this song has a much darker feel which is most probably due to what the song is about and features saxophones and trumpets played by Kellie Santin and Nick Etwell.Hard-Fi - Better Do Better
/ref> The track is about a relationship that's over. However it appears as if the girlfriend of

Richard Archer Richard Archer (born 18 January 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, principal songwriter and main composer of indie rock band Hard-Fi. Hard-Fi have produced several top 10 hits and two No. 1 ...

wants to get back together after having an affair. The lyrics suggest he will have none of this "I'll tell you how it's gonna be, don't you never, ever come near me". While at times the speaker shows reflective emotions about the initial break up, he also seems quite angry and aggressive towards his ex, with the line "Your face makes me wanna be sick." The B-side "Polish Love Song" was recorded in one take backstage at the

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

Grand Emporium. The song pleads the case for illegal immigrant workers coming from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

Design

The single was created, designed and photographed by Aaron Hinchion and Matt Gibbins of communications agenc
ALBION
The CD cover opens up to give a bigger insight to the story told in the music. For Better Do Better it was about placing the phone in the appropriate context. The phone sits on a pub table and shows us that Tina is being deleted from the contacts list. The Tina mentioned on some of the sleeves formed a subplot throughout all the single releases, most notably on the cover for ''Better do Better'', which probably suggests the girl in the song is "Tina". She later became a bit of a talking point both in the music press and on the fan forums. The Hard-Fi CCTV camera icon also appeared subtly on every cover in different forms. Like all of the Hard-Fi releases, various formats carried subtle changes to differentiate them on the shelf. Making them all collectable. Better Do Better's delete message was in various stages of completion on the CD cover and 7-inch sleeve.

Track listings

CD single # Better Do Better # Polish Love Song Maxi CD # Better Do Better # Polish Love Song # Better Do Better (Video) # Hard To Beat (

Format) 7-inch # Better Do Better # Better Do Better (Wrongtom Wild Inna 81 Version)

Charts

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Hard-Fi songs 2006 singles Atlantic Records singles Songs about domestic violence Songs written by Richard Archer