“Things Are Better Now” is the first song written as a collaborative effort between Adrian Miller and myself as mentioned in my earlier post “The Joys Of Collaboration.” The idea for the song was born out of the first two lines which were swirling around in Adrian’s head for a period of time:
Whenever the glass is half empty
I reach for a bottle and fill it to the top
The lines remind me of something Tom Waits would write, it sounds negative but in fact it outlines a very positive message with the rest of the song attempting to reinforce the sentiments of that message, that “things are better now”
This recording is also my first real attempt at putting something down in my home studio. The drum backing may be slightly naff but all in all, I’m pretty happy with it.
Enjoy,
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Things Are Better Now
© C. Stewart/A. Miller 2010
Whenever the glass is half empty
I reach for a bottle and fill it to the top
I never let misery get me
I treat myself gently, I tell my tears to stop
I keep myself moving
Get through it somehow
I’ve been as far down as a man can go
But things are better now
Whenever I start to feel lonely
I know that it’s only, a matter of time
Till somebody new recognises
That I’m full of surprises, of a very nice kind
Chorus
Once upon a time
I was lost along the way
I could not ease my mind
But that was yesterday
Now I’m looking forward to what each new day brings
Yeah things are better now
Whenever the glass is half empty
I reach for a bottle and fill it to the top
I never let misery get me
I treat myself gently, I tell my tears to stop
Chorus (x2)
Things are better now
Things are better now
Things are better now
Watch this space, there’s more to come.
Peace,
Corey 
The drums get in the way for me, especially early in the song … I would try a mix without any drums …
otherwise very good
Hey Brett, good to see your feedback.
I totally agree with you, the drums do get in the way of the overall feel of the song. I’ll see if I can get a version up without the drums backing.
I’m amazed how my view of the drums have changed since the first time I recorded the song, your feedback confirmed it for me. Thanks for that
Corey
Hi Corey, I’m a mate of Adrian’s and he asked to take a listen to what you’ve been up to. I like the song. Especially the sentiments. I only have two concerns. First I feel the third line in the chorus is too long. It interrupts the flow somehow. I think it needs to be seven syllables long, like the first line. The other observation concerns the line ‘Yeah things are better now’ after ‘Now I’m looking forward to what each new day brings’ the melody does not quite work here for me. Its different than used else where, which is fine, but it soars way up at the end and therefore doesn’t sound like an ending to the middle eight but the beginning of something. Does that make sense?
All that said the melody works really well everywhere else. And I love the hidden rhymes in the last line of each verse. Hope this is helpful. Richard
You bring up a couple of really good points here Richard.
These songs are by now means finished so I’ll be bringing your feedback to Adrian as there are a few spot in the song that I’d like to personally tweak a little bit more.
Thanks for the feedback, it’s greatly appreciated,
Corey