No Better Blues

Album: Single Release Only (2014)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This satirical song finds Chance the Rapper supposedly listing everything he hates from "carrots, peas, asparagus" to "optimistic smirks on the face of children." The Chicago MC's band, The Social Experiment, supplied the jazzy instrumentation for the track.
  • The song title is most likely a reference to the 1990 Spike Lee film Mo' Better Blues about the life of a fictional jazz trumpeter.
  • Chance penned the song just after he'd released "Wonderful Everyday: Arthur," his rendition of the "Arthur" theme from the PBS cartoon about an aardvark and all his friends. The rapper's cover received a lot of backlash. "Whether it was that they were hating the monotony or repetitiveness of the music they were hearing and trying to put my music in contrast, I dunno," he told Billboard magazine. "I was just wrapped up in this idea that anybody could dislike a song that was positive. And positivity is something that's almost a joke at this point. So I think certain people couldn't really understand it."

    "I was talking with the guys trying to make a song about things that I actually hate, and then it became more of a satirical thing where it was to a point where I was like, 'I'm going to write about things I couldn't possibly hate,'" Chance continued. "At a certain point I realized the best way to write it would be to attack it from a standpoint where it's not necessarily obvious satire."
  • The song is basically Chance poking fun at people hating anything. "There's so much positivity in the world and your day-to-day life that to go as far as to say that you hate something or you wish it didn't exist and all the bad things in the world happen to you and only you, it's a joke," he explained. "It's not real to have that much hate in your heart."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Martin Page

Martin PageSongwriter Interviews

With Bernie Taupin, Martin co-wrote the #1 hits "We Built This City" and "These Dreams." After writing the Pretty Woman song for Go West, he had his own hit with "In the House of Stone and Light."

Yacht Rock!

Yacht Rock!Song Writing

A scholarly analysis of yacht rock favorites ("Steal Away," "Baker Street"...) with a member of the leading YR cover band.

Def Leppard Quiz

Def Leppard QuizMusic Quiz

Can you name Def Leppard's only #1 hit in America? Get rocked with this adrenalized quiz.

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside Story

Jesus Christ Superstar: Ted Neeley Tells the Inside StorySong Writing

The in-depth discussion about the making of Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley, who played Jesus in the 1973 film.

Leslie West of Mountain

Leslie West of MountainSongwriter Interviews

From the cowbell on "Mississippi Queen" to recording with The Who when they got the wrong Felix, stories from one of rock's master craftsmen.

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse Pop

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss): A History Of Abuse PopSong Writing

Songs that seem to glorify violence against women are often misinterpreted - but not always.