bearing in mind it's not a take that movie so they didn't have to eat that hard and they DID

My history with this song:

Remember when we hadn't heard a new Taylor track in more than two years and Little Big Town dropped the first version of this???? I do!!!! We had to be sustained by this and "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" for another 8 months!!!!!!

That being said, I like the Taylor version considerably more (especially the second verse and bridge melodies) and also I generally find this track a tad overrated lol.

Thoughts:

"Better Man" is a country ballad describing an ex's hurtful behaviour that ended up driving Taylor to break up with him, while also mourning the relationship that could have been if he were an eponymous better man. Much like "the 1", the hypothetical carries through to the title.

While the lyrics are slightly unsubtle for my taste – especially when compared to a track like "Dear John" – Taylor's vocal shines on this track. Many of her runs really elevate the moment and her voice does a lot to contribute to the dynamism of the song. I also have to praise Aaron Dessner's arrangement, which adds so much drama without ever feeling tacky: great drums, lovely strings.

Much of the song deals with Taylor convincing herself she made the right choice in breaking up ("I know I'm probably better off on my own"*; "I know the bravest thing I ever did was run"), though she still struggles to move on because the pain is still fresh ("I wish it wasn't 4 AM, standing in the mirror / Saying to myself 'You know you had to do it'"). She also references a rather overt loss of innocence: "I see the permanent damage you did to me."

Memory plays a key role: "Sometimes in the middle of the night I can feel you again" implies a recollection of some sort with the use of 'again', but the first verse makes a direct allusion: "Never again, I just wish I could forget when it was magic." Memory is once again the barrier to moving on.

Finally, there's a philosophy of love here: "We might still be in love if you were a better man" – Love requires some amount of goodness from those involved in it, which recalls the original Red's opening track: "Love is a ruthless game unless you play it good and right."

*the uncertainty in the "probably" is devastating!

Favourite lyric: "Push my love away like it was some kind of loaded gun"

Favourite melodic line: "I-I-I hold on to this pride because these days it's all I have / And I gave to you my best and we both know you can't say that" – incidentally SOOOOO much better than the Little Big Town version, I have a quite strong memory of my first listen to this version and being like "woah since when is the bridge this great???" It's all in the melody.