"I Can Love You Better" is a song written by Pamela Brown Hayes and Kostas, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group

Dixie Chicks The Chicks (previously known as Dixie Chicks) are an American country music band from Dallas, Texas. Since 1995, the band has consisted of Natalie Maines (lead vocals, guitar) and sisters Martie Maguire (vocals, fiddle, mandolin, guitar) and ...

. It was released in October 1997 as their debut single and the first from their album '' Wide Open Spaces'', and was the first hit of the

Natalie Maines Natalie Louise Maines (born October 14, 1974) is an American singer. She is the lead vocalist for the all-female country band The Chicks. In 1995, after leaving Berklee College of Music, Maines was recruited by the Dixie Chicks to replace their ...

era of the group. The song reached number 7 on the ''

Billboard magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the musi ...

'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks, and represented the group's first real commercial success. The song was included in the

set list A set list, or setlist, is typically a handwritten or printed document created as an ordered list of songs, jokes, stories and other elements an artist intends to present during a specific performance. A setlist can be made of nearly any materi ...

on the Chicks' 2000 Fly Tour, but was not performed again until the 2013

Long Time Gone Tour The Long Time Gone Tour was the fourth headlining tour by American country group, Dixie Chicks. Background The group sparked numerous reunion rumors after they were booked to play several music festivals in Canada, for the summer of 2013. The g ...

. The Dixie Chicks performed a parody of the song, "No Letter Better Than B", on

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...

Content

The song's narrator is assuring a man that she can love him better and make him forget his previous love.

Critical reception

Stephen Thomas Erlewine cited the track as "convincing" in his review of the album for

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

for "I Can Love You Better" was directed by Chris Rogers. In it, the Dixie Chicks are shown performing the song while in an airport lobby. They are also shown sitting on an airport

baggage claim 200px, Baggage carousel In airport terminals, a baggage reclaim area is an area where arriving passengers claim checked-in baggage after disembarking from an airline flight. The alternative term baggage claim is used at airports in the US and ...

belt, in a bakery, and on a crowded sidewalk.

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

{{authority control 1997 debut singles 1997 songs The Chicks songs Songs written by Kostas (songwriter) Song recordings produced by Blake Chancey Song recordings produced by Paul Worley Monument Records singles