About The Song
When Clint Black debuted on Billboard’s country singles chart with his first release, “A Better Man,” on February 18, 1989, he repeatedly earned comparisons to Merle Haggard. Clint had his mother Ann – and the Hag – to thank for his introduction to country music.
In 1969, when Clint was just seven, Mom requested a song from radio station KIKK in Houston, and allowed Clint and his three older brothers to stay up late until the tune came on the air. The station played her request, “Okie From Muskogee,” hooking young Clint as a country music fan from that moment on.
Like Merle, Clint emerged as a singer/songwriter, although he was born in a part of the nation not exactly considered hot territory for country music – Long Branch, New Jersey, where his father briefly worked. The family moved to Houston, Texas within six months. As a teenager, Clint played bass in his brother’s band and performing at family events. He spent several years on the club circuit around Houston, and the song that launched his national career – “A Better Man” – paid homage to a girl Clint had dated for seven years.
Black had been friends with her for several years before they ever started dating, but he knew from the outset that the relationship was never going to work. Clint had just begun writing songs with Hayden Nicholas, the guitar player in his road band, and he told Hayden about his situation with the young lady. Nicholas came up with a musical idea and off they went writing the song. It was Clint himself who came up with the title and the chorus line. The words just seemed to roll off his tongue: “I’m leaving here a better man/For knowing you this way/Things I couldn’t do before now I think I can/And I’m leaving here a better man.”
“A Better Man” made its slow but steady climb to the top of Billboard’s country singles chart. It took 16 weeks to get there (a bit longer of an ascension than most records), but the song edged into the number one position on June 10, 1989, making Black the first artist since Freddy Fender in 1975 to reach the top with his first charted single.
Video
Lyrics
What do you say when it’s over?
I don’t know if I should say anything at all
One day we’re rollin’ in the clover
Next thing you know we take the fall
Still, I think about the years since I first met you
And the way it might have been without you here
And I don’t know if words from me can still upset you
But I’ve just gotta make this memory stand clear
I know I’m leavin’ here a better man
For knowin’ you this way
Things I couldn’t do before, now I think I can
And I’m leavin’ here a better man
I guess I always knew I couldn’t hold you
But I’d never be the one to set you free
Just like some old nursery rhyme your mama told you
You still believe in some old “meant to be”
Still, I’m leavin’ here a better man
For knowin’ you this way
Things I couldn’t do before now I think I can
And I’m leavin’ here a better man
Yes, I’m leavin’ here a better man
For knowin’ you this way
Things I couldn’t do before now I know I can
And I’m leavin’ here a better man
Yes, I’m leavin’ here a better man