Best I Can

Album: Dina (2017)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Michael Cera wrote and recorded this song for the documentary film Dina, which tells the story of a romance between a mentally challenged couple. The Canadian actor and sometime musician provided the entire soundtrack for the movie.
  • This song finds Cera teaming up with Sharon Van Etten. Describing how the collaboration with Van Etten came about, Cera told NME:

    "Sharon and I share a music rehearsal space together in New York where we keep all our stuff. It's the kinda place where you can go and play music all night with no noise concerns."

    "I met Sharon one night and we got talking," Cera continued. "She mentioned that she had a place and was looking for a person to split the rent. It was just so perfect, exactly what I had been looking for… When I have friends in town, we end up going there and fooling around. It's great to have a place where you can play drums really loudly at 4am and not care at all."
  • Yazoo's 1982 synth pop single "Only You" served as an inspiration for the track: Cera explained:

    "There was this one part in the movie where they had 'Only You' by Yaz [soundtracking it]. They didn't know if they were going to be able to clear [the song rights] so I said, 'Why don't you let me try and write an original pop song that people might not know whether it's an original song for the movie or just a song they'd never heard before?'."

    "I basically tried to go after that sound [of 'Only You']," he continued. "That song was my compass and then it kind of found its own way. They ended up clearing the rights, but I like that this song was born because of that."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Christopher Cross

Christopher CrossSongwriter Interviews

The man who created Yacht Rock with "Sailing" wrote one of his biggest hits while on acid.

Jon Anderson of Yes

Jon Anderson of YesSongwriter Interviews

From the lake in "Roundabout" to Sister Bluebird in "Starship Trooper," Jon Anderson talks about how nature and spirituality play into his lyrics for Yes.

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."

Stan Ridgway

Stan RidgwaySongwriter Interviews

Go beyond the Wall of Voodoo with this cinematic songwriter.

Colin Hay

Colin HaySongwriter Interviews

Established as a redoubtable singer-songwriter, the Men At Work frontman explains how religion, sobriety and Jack Nicholson play into his songwriting.

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-Nighters

Waiting For The Break of Day: Three Classic Songs About All-NightersSong Writing

These Three famous songs actually describe how they were written - late into the evening.