Better Things (song)

"Better Things" is a song by The Kinks, released as a single in June 1981 in the UK and November 1981 in the US.^[1] A slightly shorter version is included on their album Give the People What They Want.

Release and reception

The track was released as the lead single for the album in the UK. Initial copies came with a bonus 7" containing live versions of "Lola" and "David Watts" recorded on American tours in 1979 and 1980. The UK B-side was a non-LP song "Massive Reductions" (a different, shorter version of "Massive Reductions" was released on the band's 1984 album Word of Mouth). Although "Better Things" missed the top 40, it did reach #46 and was their first charting single since "Supersonic Rocket Ship" in 1972.

In the U.S., "Destroyer" was released in September as the album's lead single with "Better Things" as a the second single in November. "Better Things" reached #12 on the Billboard Rock Top Tracks chart and #92 on the Billboard Hot 100, slightly lower than "Destroyer".

In September 2010, Ray Davies released "See My Friends", an album of reworked classic Kinks songs, which contains a duet of "Better Things" with Bruce Springsteen.

In 2011 American Songwriter named "Better Things" their Favorite Break Up Song.^[2]

Covers

Pearl Jam recorded a version of the song and released it on side A of their 2011 fan club single.
The American punk-rock band Bouncing Souls covered the song in their album The Gold Record.
Dar Williams covered the song on her album End of the Summer.
The Fountains of Wayne version of the song appeared on This Is Where I Belong - The Songs of Ray Davies & The Kinks, a tribute CD released on April 2, 2002.
Members of the Counting Crows covered the song on their live "Devil and the Bunny Show" at New Orleans' Shim Sham club on May 5, 2003. The recording exists on various bootlegs but was never publicly released.

References

↑ "Better Things". Kinks.it.rit.edu. Retrieved 2012-01-16.
↑ "The 30-Day Song Selection Spectacular: #4, Favorite Breakup Song". The 30-Day Song Selection Spectacular: #4, Favorite Breakup Song. American Songwriter. Retrieved 14 June 2012.

v t e The Kinks

Ray Davies Dave Davies Mick Avory John Dalton Ian Gibbons John Gosling Bob Henrit Andy Pyle Pete Quaife Jim Rodford Gordon Edwards

Studio albums	Kinks Kinda Kinks The Kink Kontroversy Face to Face Something Else by The Kinks The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One Muswell Hillbillies Everybody's in Show-Biz Preservation Act 1 Preservation Act 2 Soap Opera Schoolboys in Disgrace Sleepwalker Misfits Low Budget Give the People What They Want State of Confusion Word of Mouth Think Visual UK Jive Phobia

Live albums	Live at Kelvin Hall One for the Road Live: The Road To the Bone

EPs	Kinksize Session Kinksize Hits Kwyet Kinks Dedicated Kinks The Kinks

Compilations	Kinks-Size Kinkdom Greatest Hits! Well Respected Kinks Sunny Afternoon The Kink Kronikles The Great Lost Kinks Album Come Dancing with The Kinks The Kinks Are Well Respected Men Lost & Found (1986–1989) The Ultimate Collection Picture Book

Unreleased projects	Four More Respected Gentlemen A Hole in the Sock of (Dave Davies)

Related articles	Discography Band members Konk The Kast Off Kinks Nicky Hopkins Argent X-Ray Percy Do It Again Give the People What We Want: Songs of The Kinks

Book Category Portal WikiProject

v t e The Kinks singles discography

singles 1960s	1964 "Long Tall Sally" "You Still Want Me" "You Really Got Me" "All Day and All of the Night" 1965 "Tired of Waiting for You" "Ev'rybody's Gonna Be Happy" "Set Me Free" "See My Friends" "Who'll Be the Next in Line" "A Well Respected Man" "Till the End of the Day" 1966 "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" "Wonder Where My Baby Is Tonight?" "Sunny Afternoon" "Dandy" "Dead End Street" 1967 "Mister Pleasant" "Waterloo Sunset" "Death of a Clown" (Dave Davies solo) "Autumn Almanac" "Susannah's Still Alive" (Dave Davies solo) 1968 "Wonderboy" "Days" "Lincoln County" (Dave Davies solo) 1969 "Starstruck" "Hold My Hand" (Dave Davies solo) "Plastic Man" "Drivin'" "The Village Green Preservation Society" "Shangri-La" "Victoria"

singles 1970s	1970 "Lola" "Apeman" 1971 "God's Children" "20th Century Man" 1972 "Supersonic Rocket Ship" "Celluloid Heroes" 1973 "One Of The Survivors" "Sitting in the Midday Sun" "Sweet Lady Genevieve" "Where Have All the Good Times Gone" 1974 "Money Talks" "Mirror of Love" "Holiday Romance" "Preservation" 1975 "Ducks on the Wall" "Starmaker" "You Can't Stop The Music" 1976 "I'm in Disgrace" "No More Looking Back" 1977 "Sleepwalker" "Juke Box Music" "Father Christmas" 1978 "A Rock 'N Roll Fantasy" "Live Life" "Black Messiah" 1979 "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" "Moving Pictures" "A Gallon of Gas" "Catch Me Now I'm Falling" "Pressure"

singles 1980s	1980 "Lola" (live) "Till the End of the Day" (live) "You Really Got Me" (live) 1981 "Victoria" (live) "Better Things" "Destroyer" "Predictable" 1982 "Come Dancing" 1983 "Don't Forget to Dance" "State of Confusion" 1984 "Good Day" 1985 "Summer's Gone" "Do It Again" 1986 "Rock 'n' Roll Cities" "How Are You" 1987 "Lost and Found"

other selected songs	"Bald Headed Woman" "Big Black Smoke" "David Watts" "Got to Be Free" "The Hard Way" "Have a Cuppa Tea" "I Go to Sleep" "I Need You" "I'm Not Like Everybody Else" "Mr. Churchill Says" "Oklahoma U.S.A." "Polly" "Rats" "Sitting in My Hotel" "Strangers" "Wicked Annabella"

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