Country group Little Big Town's newest single, "Better Man," was released on October 20, and at first, all the band said was that "a young girl from Nashville, Tennessee" wrote it. But today, in a Facebook Q&A with fans, they confirmed that that young girl was none other than Taylor Swift, Entertainment Weekly reports.
"She sent us this song and it was one that was really special to her and she thought of us because of the harmonies and she's never pitched a song to anyone before," singer Karen Fairchild said, "and the moment that we heard it we were like, 'Man, that is a song that we're gonna cut.'"
They explained that they didn't want to reveal it at first, because they wanted people to hear the song first and make judgments later. And it worked, because Rolling Stone reports that Little Big Town had the best radio day in their history, even before the songwriter's big reveal.
Swift herself confirmed that she wrote the song, saying that she was "honored that a band I've loved for so many years decided to record this song I wrote."
The song sounds like old-school Taylor Swift before she fully went pop. And the lyrics are also classic Taylor, covering heartbreak and pondering what could have been after a relationship. "I know I'm probably better off on my own / Than lovin' a man who didn't know / What he had when he had it," the song starts. "I wish it wasn't 4 a.m, standing in the mirror / Saying to myself, you know you had to do it."
Now of course, it's quite possible that Taylor just wrote this song about breakups in general, or about a total fictional storyline. But this is Taylor Swift we're talking about, and she usually turns to real life to write her songs. And remember, the last time she secretly ghostwrote a song, it was Calvin Harris' "This Is What You Came For." It could be about Calvin, or it could be about her more recent high-profile BF, Tom Hiddleston.
Either way, take a listen to Little Big Town's "Better Man" and decide for yourself. The one thing you can definitely take away is that Taylor Swift knows how to write a great breakup ballad.
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