https://www.youtube.com/embed/ph9NQ8ASmX4
Let the lyric analyzing begin! Taylor Swift wrote Little Big Town’s new single “Better Man” and it’s a total breakup jam. In classic Swift style, the country song is about having to break up with a man you love after realizing you deserve better.
“I know I’m probably better off on my own / Than lovin’ a man who didn’t know / What he had when he had it,” the lyrics begin. “And I see the permanent damage you did to me / Never again, I just wish I could forget when it was magic / I wish it wasn’t 4am, standing in the mirror / Saying to myself, you know you had to do it / I know the bravest thing I ever did was run.”
Little Big Town revealed that Swift wrote the song prior to releasing the music video for the new single on Tuesday, November 1.
“Some of you have been asking and we told you that there was a young girl in Nashville that wrote it by herself, and it’s Taylor Swift,” singer Karen Fairchild revealed via a Facebook Live video. “She sent us this song and it was one that was really special to her, and she thought of us because of the harmonies. She’s never pitched the song to anyone before and the moment that we heard it we were like, ‘Man, that is a song that we’re going to cut.’”
The song is special to Swift seemingly because of her current love life. The singer — who is famous for her breakup ballads — started dating actor Tom Hiddleston just two weeks after she split from DJ Calvin Harris in June. The Grammy winner’s whirlwind romance with the Thor actor caused a media frenzy and sparked an online feud between Swift and her ex Harris after she was photographed kissing the actor soon after parting ways with the DJ.
Despite putting their love on display all over the globe — the high-profile pair ventured from Rhode Island to Nashville and even Rome and his native U.K. while together — Hiddleston and Swift called it quits just three months later in September.
“She was the one to put the brakes on the relationship,” a source close to the couple told Us at the time. “Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with. Taylor knew the backlash that comes with public displays of affection, but Tom didn’t listen to her concerns when she brought them up.”
Swift also took to social media on Tuesday to reveal that she penned the new song.
“Feeling really honored that a band I’ve loved for so many years decided to record this song I wrote,” she wrote on Instagram. “Good luck at the #cmaawards @littlebigtown !!”
Little Big Town’s new jam contains hints of both of Swift’s most recent relationships. Listen to the song above and analyze the lyrics below:
“Better Man”
I know I’m probably better off on my own
Than lovin’ a man who didn’t know
What he had when he had it
And I see the permanent damage you did to me
Never again, I just wish I could forget when it was magic
I wish it wasn’t 4am, standing in the mirror
Saying to myself, you know you had to do it
I know the bravest thing I ever did was run
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again
But I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man
And I know why we had to say goodbye
Like the back of my hand
And I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man
A better man
I know I’m probably better off all alone
Than needing a man who could change his mind at any given minute
And it’s always on your terms
I’m hanging on every careless word
Hoping it might turn sweet again
Like it was in the beginning
But your jealousy, I can hear it now
You’re talking down to me like I’ll always be around
You push my love away like it’s some kind of loaded gun
Boy, you never thought I’d run
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again
But I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man
And I know why we had to say goodbye
Like the back of my hand
And I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man
A better man
Better man
I hold onto this pride because these days it’s all I have
And I gave you my best and we both know you can’t say that
You can’t say that
I wish you were a better man
I wonder what we would’ve become
If you were a better man
We might still be in love
If you were a better man
You would’ve been the one
If you were a better man
Yeah, yeah
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again
But I just miss you, and I just wish you were a better man
And I know why we had to say goodbye
Like the back of my hand
And I just miss you and I just wish you were a better man
A better man
Better man
We might still be in love, if you were a better man
Better man…
