We take you behind the scenes and explore the making of one of our favorite tunes with The Song Remembers When…
Song: “Better Than I Used To Be”
Songwriters: Ashley Gorley and Bryan Simpson
Album: Emotional Traffic
In 2011, Tim McGraw was in the process of parting ways with his long-time record label. He had turned in the final album on his contract when, according to Tim, the label held onto it for over a year before it was released. That album was Emotional Traffic and its first single was “Better Than I Used To Be,” a song about changing one’s life for the better.
Songwriters Ashley Gorley and Bryan Simpson felt the song would find its home with an artist who was willing to be vulnerable, someone who wasn’t afraid to sing about being flawed and admitting to a broken past. They actually wrote “Better Than I Used To Be” a few years prior to Tim recording it, and the song initially was cut by Sammy Kershaw.
As for Tim’s version, in June 2012, it reached the Top Five. “Better Than I Used To Be” would be Tim’s last hit song with Curb Records before departing for another label in Nashville – Big Machine.