"Better Man" is a song by American country group

Little Big Town Little Big Town is an American country music vocal group from Homewood, Alabama. Founded in 1998, the group has comprised the same four members since its founding: Karen Fairchild, Kimberly Schlapman (née Roads), Phillip Sweet, and Jimi Westbr ...

. It was released on October 20, 2016, as the lead single from the group's eighth studio album, '' The Breaker'' (2017). American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...

wrote the song, intending to include it on her fourth studio album, '' Red'' (2012), but the song did not make the final track-list. She passed the song to Little Big Town in 2016, believing the group's vocal harmonies suited it. Produced by

Jay Joyce John Joseph "Jay" Joyce is an American record producer, songwriter and session musician. In the 1990s, Joyce, with Chris Feinstein and Brad Pemberton, recorded and toured as Iodine and began working as a record producer, working with artists suc ...

, "Better Man" was first performed live at the 50th CMA Awards on November 2, 2016. The song won Song of the Year and was nominated for Single of the Year, and Music Video of the Year at the 2017 CMA Awards. The song won a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Country Duo/Group Performance The Grammy Award for Best Country Duo/Group Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. It was first awarded in 2012, after a major overhaul of Gramm ...

and was nominated for Best Country Song at the

60th Annual Grammy Awards The 60th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on January 28, 2018. The CBS network broadcast the show live from Madison Square Garden in New York City. The show was moved to January to avoid coinciding with the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeong ...

. Swift recorded her version of "Better Man", subtitled "Taylor's Version (from the Vault)", for her 2021 re-recorded album, '' Red (Taylor's Version)''. The version was produced by Swift and

Aaron Dessner Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums; a co-founder of the indie ...

Background

191125 Taylor Swift at the 2019 American Music Awards

The song was written by

. According to group member Karen Fairchild, Swift thought of the group because of the harmonies, and sent the song to them. According to Swift, the song was originally intended for her fourth studio album '' Red'' (2012). An unnamed source from ''Us Weekly'' reported that she sent it to the group in July 2016. "Better Man" has a play length of 4 minutes and 21 seconds. The song is in a slow tempo of 72

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ...

, written with a 4/4 time signature. It is in the key of

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is ...

, with a chord pattern of F-C-B-B-B. Karen Fairchild's lead vocal spans from F to B. Swift revealed in August 2021 that she would be recording her rendition of "Better Man" for the 2021 re-recording of ''Red''.

Music video

An accompanying music video was directed by Becky Fluke and Reid Long and premiered on November 1, 2016. Set in a rural household, the video depicts three generations of single parents whose partners ultimately leave them. The cycle is presumably broken at the end, when Philip Sweet's character has a baby girl and makes an effort to be a better role model.

Critical reception

Kevin John Coyne of ''Country Universe'' rated the song "A", saying that "It’s a concept that is grounded in so much truth that I’m amazed I’ve never heard it approached this way before" and "The writers do a great job of capturing both why he song's narratorstayed so long and why she had to leave, and all of the conflicting feelings that go along with that."

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wi ...

writer Billy Dukes also praised the song, saying that "This song isn’t as jarring as some of the quartet’s most recent hits. In fact, the mistreatment of women is only vaguely alluded to — there’s no one line that burns the hair off the back of your neck. Jay Joyce’s arrangement is soft but not stark. It’s among his more mainstream productions. Still, it’s clear Fairchild’s protagonist is reeling from a love that went very, very wrong."

ranked it the 42nd best country song of the 2010s.

Accolades

Commercial performance

The song sold 6,000 copies on its first day of release, enough to allow the song to enter the Hot Country Songs chart at No. 41. It sold 20,000 the following week, and rose to No. 20 in the chart. In its third week it sold a further 47,000 copies and climbed further to No. 6. On the Hot Country Songs chart dated February 11, 2017, "Better Man" reached number one, earning the group their third leader. It spent two weeks at No. 1 before being dethroned by " Body Like A Back Road" by

Sam Hunt Sam Lowry Hunt (born December 8, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter. Born in Cedartown, Georgia, Hunt played football in his high school and college years and once attempted to pursue a professional sports career before signing with MCA ...

. The song was certified platinum in the United States by the RIAA on August 23, 2017. The song has sold 772,000 copies in the United States as of February 2018.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal. *

– vocals *

– songwriter *

– producer, programmer, bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, percussion, mixer * Jaxon Hargrove – assistant recording engineer * Jimmy Mansfield – assistant recording engineer * Jason Hall – engineer * Richard Dodd – mastering engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Other versions

Swift performed "Better Man" at Club Nomadic in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

as part of the

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

Special, Super Saturday Night on February 4, 2017. She also performed it on March 31, 2018, at the

Bluebird Café The Bluebird Café is a 90-seat music club in Nashville, Tennessee that opened in 1982. The club features acoustic music performed by both established singer-songwriters, and cover artists. The Bluebird receives over 70,000 visitors annually. Th ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, and on August 25, 2018, at her Reputation Stadium Tour stop at

Nissan Stadium Nissan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Owned by the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, it is primarily used for football and is the home field of the Tennessee Titans of the Nati ...

in Nashville. On October 12, 2021, Swift's original demo for "Better Man" widely leaked online. On February 15, 2017,

Chase Bryant Chase Spencer Yaklin, better known by his stage name Chase Bryant (born October 9, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter. Bryant is a family name shared by his grandfather, Jimmy Bryant, who performed with Roy Orbison and Waylon Jennings. In ...

recorded a cover version of the song, which changed the grammatical narrative from second person to first. Bryant's rendition was described favorably by both ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' for the change in the song's perspective, as well as the harmonies provided by Runaway June.

"Better Man (Taylor's Version)"

Swift recorded "Better Man", subtitled "(Taylor's Version) (From the Vault)", for her second re-recorded album, '' Red (Taylor's Version)'', released on November 12, 2021, through

Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

. The re-recorded "Better Man" was produced by Swift and

. It also features

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional a ...

and the

London Contemporary Orchestra The London Contemporary Orchestra (LCO), founded in 2008 by Hugh Brunt and Robert Ames, is an ensemble of young musicians whose stated aim is "to explore and promote new music to an increasingly wide audience". LCO staged its inaugural season a ...

, arranged by

Bryce Dessner Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, as well as a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother Aaron is also a member of the group. Together they write the music, in coll ...

Charts

References

{{authority control 2016 songs 2016 singles Little Big Town songs Songs written by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Jay Joyce Capitol Records Nashville singles Country ballads 2010s ballads Taylor Swift songs Song recordings produced by Taylor Swift Song recordings produced by Aaron Dessner