Songfacts®:

• The members of Yellowcard were in their early 20s when they released their breakout album, Ocean Avenue, in 2003, their first on a major label. That proved to be pinnacle of their commercial success, and the slow climb down the mountain wasn't easy as they watched their sales numbers dry up and crowds get smaller. In 2017 they split up, figuring there wasn't enough interest in the band to make it worth continuing.
  
  But around the time of COVID they get a second life as a new generation discovered them, sending their streaming numbers higher. They reunited in 2022 and got a warm welcome from new fans and old.
  
  The experience left them with a new perspective on gratitude that informed their 2025 song "Better Days," the title track to their first album since their reunion.
• A theme of the song is taking control of your life and having the courage to change. As lead singer Ryan Key sings:
  
  Now it's not too late
  To change everything you wanna change
  
  Yellowcard made a bold move back in 2000 when they moved to Los Angeles from their hometown of Jacksonville. The nostalgia they felt for their high school years there came through in the song "Ocean Avenue," which became their biggest hit.
• Travis Barker of Blink-182 produced the Better Days album and played drums on every track. Blink were one of the bands that led the way in the pop-punk movement of the early '00s, and they were a big influence on Yellowcard. "His ability to pull out what we do best, but make us somehow also create this entirely new sound for ourselves at the same time was fascinating to be a part of and to watch," Ryan Keys said.
• The music video takes place at a Blockbuster video store, but with the store name changed to "Better Days." It's set in the '80s, with the band members performing in the store dressed as characters from movies of that era, with Ryan Key as Maverick from Top Gun, drummer Jimmy Brunkvist as Marty McFly from Back To The Future, and violin player Sean Mackin as Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid (yes, Yellowcard has a violinist. He's a founding member of the band).
  
  Setting the video in a Blockbuster is a nod to Yellowcard's older fans who remember going to a video store to rent physical copies of movies you had to return a day or two later.
• "Better Days" broke Fall Out Boy's record for the longest gap between a first entry and a first #1 on Billboard's Alternative Airplay chart. Yellowcard first entered the chart with "Way Away" on September 6, 2003, and reached the top position just under 22 years later with "Better Days" in August 2025. This surpassed Fall Out Boy's previous record of 17 years and nine months, which was set when their first entry, "Sugar We're Going Down" (June 2005), was followed by their first #1, "Love From The Other Side," in March 2023.