Better Than Me

Album: If It Wasn't For Trucks (2020)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song finds Riley Green reflecting on how the coronavirus pandemic forced him to take a pause and hand things over to a higher power.

    There's a world on fire, feels like a bad dream
    Did the hammer come down
    Feels like a kick in the teeth
    Well this down on my luck's been getting me down on my knees
    Might have been something I need


    Later on in the song, Green talks about how his time locked down in his home state of Alabama freed him up to enjoy the little things in life.

    Got a little less in the bank
    I get a little more sleep
    I get a little more use out of that old porch swing
    I got a little more hurt holding on to little more me
    Feel a little more free


    "I wanted the song to live beyond the pandemic," Green explained to American Songwriter. "I wanted to create a message that was pretty universal. When things are bad and look awful, you need to try to find the positive in it."
  • Alabama's Randy Owen joins Riley Green on the latter part of the song. Green's ties with the singer date back to them both participating in a benefit concert for their shared alma mater, Jacksonville State University, after a tornado. "I sent him the song and he said he was a big fan of it and wanted to cut it with me, so we were able to go to Dann Huff's house and record it in his studio," Green told Billboard. "It was a pretty special thing to get to do this song with somebody that I've idolized for so long growing up."
  • Riley Green penned the song with Jordan Fletcher, Ray Fulcher, Charlie Muncaster, and Gary Stanton.

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