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"Better"
Single by Tom Baxter
from the album Skybound
Released3 December 2007
Recorded2007
Genre Acoustic rock, pop
Length3:43
Label Charisma
Songwriter(s) Tom Baxter/Sam Semple
Tom Baxter singles chronology
" This Boy"
(2004)
"Better"
(2007)

"Better" is a 2007 single by British singer-songwriter, Tom Baxter, co-written with Sam Semple. It was released on 3 December 2007, reaching a peak of No. 10 in the Irish Singles Chart and No. 67 in the UK Singles Chart in 2008.

Track listing

  1. "Better"
  2. "Too Far Gone"
  3. Love Is Not Enough

Chart positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart 10
UK Singles Chart 67

Boyzone cover

"Better"
Single by Boyzone
from the album Back Again... No Matter What
B-side" Coming Home Now"
Released8 December 2008
Recorded2008
Genre Pop
Length3:36
Label Polydor
Songwriter(s)Tom Baxter, Sam Semple
Producer(s)Stephen Lipson
Boyzone singles chronology
" Love You Anyway"
(2008)
"Better"
(2008)
" Gave It All Away"
(2010)

The first version of the song to chart was a cover by Boyzone, released in December 2008 as the second and final single from their second greatest hits compilation, Back Again... No Matter What. It became their final single released before the death of band member Stephen Gately in 2009.

Background

Boyzone's version of the song features both Ronan Keating and Stephen Gately on lead vocals. The single received less promotion than Love You Anyway, due to the band's tour commitments, and charted much lower, selling 30,000 copies and becoming Boyzone's first single to miss the top 3 in Ireland and the first to miss the top 5 in the UK.

Music video

The music video for "Better" premiered on 14 October 2008. The entire video was shot in black and white, with each member of the group singing to a woman he is holding – with the exception of Stephen Gately, who is shown singing to a man – the only time a Boyzone video has depicted a same-sex love interest. The video marks the last appearance for Gately in a Boyzone video, due to his death in October 2009.

Track listing

  • Digital download [1]
  1. "Better" – 3:36
  2. "Coming Home Now" – 3:46

Chart positions

Chart (2008) Peak
position
European Hot 100 Singles [2] 63
Irish Singles Chart [3] 26
Scottish Singles Chart [3] 21
UK Singles Chart [4] 22

References

  1. ^ "ITunes - Music - Better - Single by Boyzone". iTunes. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Top 100 Music Hits, Top 100 Music Charts, Top 100 Songs & The Hot 100". Billboard.com. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  3. ^ a b "The Irish Charts - All there is to know". Irishcharts.ie.
  4. ^ "2008-10-11 Top 40 Official UK Singles Archive". Official Charts Company. 11 October 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2012.