Better Than You Left Me

Album: Mickey Guyton EP (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Texas native Mickey Guyton began singing gospel in church when she was only five and grew up listening to a variety of artists, including Dolly Parton, LeAnn Rimes, Whitney Houston and gospel stars BeBe and CeCe Winans.

    Guyton moved to Nashville in 2011 to pursue her dream of a career in country music and signed to Capitol Records Nashville that same year. A series of showcases at the Nashville club 3rd and Lindsley helped to spread the word about the talented newcomer and she made her first national television appearance on stage at the White House during an all-star concert that was captured by PBS and broadcast as part of their In Performance at the White House series. This powerful girl-power track is her debut single.
  • Guyton told Taste of Country Nights host Sam Alex about the man who inspired the song. "I like to say he suffered from bigger, better syndrome where he always thought the grass was greener on the other side," she admitted. "One minute he wanted to be with me, and then he didn't want to be with me, then he wanted to be with me, then he didn't want to be with me …"

    "Then I sang for the President of the United States, then he wanted to be with me and we were at this moment right here three years ago, and I was trying to let him know that I had moved on," she continued "He was not having it, and he says to me, 'Don't make me find someone else.'"

    For the first time Guyton was brave enough to stand up for herself. "The whole time I thought he was the prize, and then I realized that I was the prize," Guyton revealed, adding that that's how this song was born.

    With the help of songwriters Nathan Chapman, Jennifer Hanson and Jenn Schott, Guyton had her first single and a story to tell with it. "We wrote this song in about 30 minutes and it means the world to me," the songstress said.
  • The song had 79 adds at country radio during its first seven days, giving Guyton the highest one-week add total on a debut release in Country Aircheck history.
  • The music video was directed by Peter Zavadil and features a distraught Guyton along with her friends and her dog Charlie. She told Taste of Country: "It's just my process of getting over a really bad break-up and how my girlfriends help me get out of that funk."
  • The song was written by Guyton in the aftermath of a heart-wrenching breakup, an experience that the singer is now glad that she went through. "I now realize why I had to go through that, and I'm happy I went through that, because through this whole process, so many people have reached out to me telling me how this song got them through their day," she said. "When I was laying on my best friend's couch for an entire day sobbing my eyes out over this guy, I never thought that was worth this moment here, and I'm so thankful... I'm so grateful that I was able to go through that, so that I could write this song."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root

Michael Glabicki of Rusted RootSongwriter Interviews

Michael tells the story of "Send Me On My Way," and explains why some of the words in the song don't have a literal meaning.

Colbie Caillat

Colbie CaillatSongwriter Interviews

Since emerging from MySpace with her hit "Bubbly," Colbie has become a top songwriter, even crafting a hit with Taylor Swift.

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

John Waite

John WaiteSongwriter Interviews

"Missing You" was a spontaneous outpouring of emotion triggered by a phone call. John tells that story and explains what MTV meant to his career.

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New York

Barney Hoskyns Explores The Forgotten History Of Woodstock, New YorkSong Writing

Our chat with Barney Hoskyns, who covers the wild years of Woodstock - the town, not the festival - in his book Small Town Talk.