Better
by Meghan Trainor (featuring Yo Gotti)

Album: Thank You (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Over a tropical beat, Meghan Trainor calls out an ex. She feels that maybe she could have done better, but had been fooled by his charm. Trainor said in a track-by-track that she loves the song, "because it's a little islandy, a little Caribbean and I'm trying to bring more myself into my songs."

    Trainor added the lyrics are "true. It's a shout out to all my exes."

    Megan Trainor has a family link to Caribbean music. Hers aunt and Trinidadian uncle, Lisa and Burton Toney, are soca music performers and songwriters.
  • The song is a collaboration with Yo Gotti. The Memphis rapper tells Trainor that she is a queen who deserves better. The Massachusetts songstress said: "I'm so grateful that Yo Gotti did that for me. He didn't know me at all and I hit him up and called him and he was so polite and sweet and said 'of course I would be honoured.' I loved it and he killed it with a great verse."
  • This tropical kiss-off was one of 10 tracks that Ricky Reed (Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty," Pitbull's "Fireball") produced for Thank You. The producer told Spin that he prodded Trainor into utilizing her childhood exposure to Caribbean music. "She's always been such a brilliant songwriter and singer," he said. "She was raised around Soca and Caribbean music, so all I did was say, 'Let's expose all this. Let's actually be less conscious about stylistically drilling it down to a certain thing, and experiment.' Once we wrote 'No,' we opened the Pandora's box that we couldn't close."
  • Rather than filming a video about a broken romantic relationship, the clip shows a beleaguered Trainor struggling with her troubled alcoholic grandfather. The singer's drunken grandad is played by acclaimed actor Beau Bridges (The Fabulous Baker Boys, Bloodline), while Yo Gotti is the bartender who notifies Trainor of her intoxicated grandfather's antics.

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gary Lewis

Gary LewisSongwriter Interviews

Gary Lewis and the Playboys had seven Top 10 hits despite competition from The Beatles. Gary talks about the hits, his famous father, and getting drafted.

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"

Jack Tempchin - "Peaceful Easy Feeling"They're Playing My Song

When a waitress wouldn't take him home, Jack wrote what would become one of the Eagles most enduring hits.

Keith Reid of Procol Harum

Keith Reid of Procol HarumSongwriter Interviews

As Procol Harum's lyricist, Keith wrote the words to "A Whiter Shade Of Pale." We delve into that song and find out how you can form a band when you don't sing or play an instrument.

Richie Wise (Kiss producer, Dust)

Richie Wise (Kiss producer, Dust)Songwriter Interviews

Richie talks about producing the first two Kiss albums, recording "Brother Louie," and the newfound appreciation of his rock band, Dust.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Don Dokken

Don DokkenSongwriter Interviews

Dokken frontman Don Dokken explains what broke up the band at the height of their success in the late '80s, and talks about the botched surgery that paralyzed his right arm.