Little Big Town held a press conference yesterday in Nashville and the big news is that they released a new song. It’s called “Better Man” and it was written by Taylor Swift. She pitched it to them, and they said hell yes.
Karen Fairchild says the band had planned to keep the connection a secret, for obvious reasons. “We didn’t want [anyone] to have any subtext other than to hear the song.”
But they changed their minds and now the whole world is examining every word to see if it’s about one of Taylor’s recent exes, Calvin Harris or Tom Hiddleston.
Here’s one verse everybody’s talking about: “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.”
You may have noticed that Taylor tends to blame the guys in her songs for screwing things up. Here’s a lyric fitting that narrative: “We might still be in love, if you were a better man. You would’ve been the one, if you were a better man.”
You could waste a lifetime trying to figure this out. Plus, a source told E! that Taylor wrote the song years ago, so there’s that.
Karen points out that the song’s message is pretty common. “We can all relate to being disappointed in someone and [saying] ‘This would have been amazing if you would have gotten your act together.’”
We may never get a straight answer from Taylor. She did post a very nice message on Instagram, “Feeling honored that a band I’ve loved for so many years decided to record this song I wrote.” You cancheck out more lyrics, here.
There was OTHER Little Big Town news at the press conference. They’re doing a residency at the Ryman Auditorium next year. It’ll be six different back-to-back days: February 24th and 25th, May 19th and 20th, plus September 15th and 16th.
They’re also releasing their new album, “The Breaker,” on February 24th. Grab more details atLittleBigTown.com.