‘I Got Better’ by Morgan Wallen - Lyrics and Meaning

First teased back in December 2024, Morgan Wallen has kept us waiting for a while with this one (at least it wasn't quite as long as ‘Come Back As A Redneck’) - but rest assured it was worth it. Arriving as part of the Sneedville megastar's fourth studio album, I'm the Problem, ‘I Got Better’ is an undulating, hazy reflection on Wallen's optimistic outlook on life in the aftermath of a painful break-up. It follows in a similar thematic vein to One Thing At A Time's ‘Hope That's True’.

Wallen penned ‘I Got Better’ alongside his core I'm the Problem writing team, Blake Pendergrass, Chase McGill, Ryan Vojtesak, Ernest Keith Smith and Michael Hardy, with the ‘Last Night’ chart-topper coming up with the idea at his farm in Tennessee.

‘I Got Better’ finds Morgan Wallen's signature, incisive drawl cutting through the spacey backdrop of synths and hazy guitars. The undulating, meandering instrumental creates a peaceful, soothing ambience, which mirrors the sense of contentment Wallen sings about throughout the narrative. Although the vibe is relaxed, that doesn't stop Wallen from injecting an extra bite into his delivery as the track reaches its crescendo, as he addresses an ex that turned him into someone he's not.

“Everything’s still pretty much the same ‘round here

Neighbors still shooting all of next year’s deer

Boys still lose ‘less they’re playing at home

But I got better since you got gone

I’m still a few too many on a Friday night

I still try to step in when it ain’t my fight

I’m still me don’t get me wrong

But I got better since you got gone”

Fun fact: Morgan Wallen based the line about the neighbours shooting next year's deer on a real-life incident, where a deer he'd been watching for two years and waiting to grow into a mature buck was killed. ‘I Got Better’ was written on Wallen's farm, which inspired the serene, untroubled feel that permeates the lyrics.

He spends the opening verse outlining how he's improved as a direct result of leaving the relationship. However, he admits he's not cleaned up his act entirely, with the protagonist confessing to still having too many drinks on Friday night and getting into brawls that aren't his to get mixed up in. It's a recurring theme throughout I'm the Problem - this is the same ol’ Wallen, but he's nonetheless matured.

“Swear it was like

I’ll be damned

I’m finally back to being who I am

When we were over it was overnight

Light came on it all felt right when it all went wrong

You turned me loose

Wasn’t no telling who I’d turn into

But it turns out me and you together’s why it took so long

‘Cause I got better since you got gone”

Wallen reflects on how immediately his brighter outlook on life was instigated by the break-up, describing how he felt like a completely different person when they were together. We get the satisfying titular transition from ‘I got better’ to ‘you got gone’.

“For a little while there you had me convinced

That my mama was the devil now we’re talking again

My friends you hated ain’t said one word

Besides ‘You got better since you lost her’”

The protagonist candidly reveals that his old flame even convinced him that he should turn against his mother, before reassuring listeners that they've since patched up their relationship. He also suggests that the ex disliked his friendship group, building up the image of a partner who tried to pull him away from who he really is.

“And I ain’t saying you’re the sleep that I lost

But I never slept this good before

I ain’t saying you’re the weight on my back

I’m just saying that it ain’t there no more”

In many ways, it feels like Morgan Wallen is addressing the same ex on the album's title-track, ‘I'm the Problem’, as he again explores the volatile balancing scale of blame in this verse. He emphasises that his old flame wasn't the only reason he lost sleep when they were together, but even so, he's sleeping more easily nowadays.

He again hints that she contributed towards the ‘weight’ he'd feel on his back, before playfully remarking that it's no longer present, which implies she was the main reason for it.

When revealing the release date for I'm the Problem, Wallen provided fans with an insight into the theme of introspection that courses through the project as a whole.

“I have been a problem, for sure, and I've got no problem admitting that. But there are other sides to me as well," he explained. "I've spent the last 11 months really trying to figure out, 'Do I still want to be the problem? Is it time to move past that phase in my life? I think it probably is, and this might be the last time I get a chance to honestly say it.”

On ‘I Got Better’ specifically, Morgan Wallen touched on how the idea for the song - and one of the key lyrics - came about, “At my farm, we wrote the song ‘I Got Better’. You can see it in the first line: ‘Everything’s still pretty much the same ’round here.’ One of our neighbors had just killed a piebald deer, and we're like, ‘Damn it, man.’ We had been watching this thing on camera for like two years, waiting until it was going to be a good, mature buck. That's why I followed that line with, ‘Neighbors still shooting all of next year's deer.’ I mean, if it wasn't for that farm, and for things like that, I wouldn't even know what that means, you know?”

“Everything’s still pretty much the same ‘round here

Neighbors still shooting all of next year’s deer

Boys still lose ‘less they’re playing at home

But I got better since you got gone

-

I’m still a few too many on a Friday night

I still try to step in when it ain’t my fight

I’m still me don’t get me wrong

But I got better since you got gone

-

Swear it was like

I’ll be damned

I’m finally back to being who I am

When we were over it was overnight

Light came on it all felt right when it all went wrong

You turned me loose

Wasn’t no telling who I’d turn into

But it turns out me and you together’s why it took so long

‘Cause I got better since you got gone

-

For a little while there you had me convinced

That my mama was the devil now we’re talking again

My friends you hated ain’t said one word

Besides ‘You got better since you lost her’

-

Swear it was like

I’ll be damned

I’m finally back to being who I am

When we were over it was overnight

Light came on it all felt right when it all went wrong

You turned me loose

Wasn’t no telling who I’d turn into

But it turns out me and you together’s why it took so long

‘Cause I got better since you got gone

Ah baby since you got gone

-

And I ain’t saying you’re the sleep that I lost

But I never slept this good before

I ain’t saying you’re the weight on my back

I’m just saying that it ain’t there no more

-

I’ll be damned

I’m finally back to being who I am

When we were over it was overnight

Light came on it all felt right when it all went wrong

You turned me loose

Wasn’t no telling who I’d turn into

But it turns out me and you together’s why it took so long

‘Cause I got better since you got gone

Yeah baby since you got gone”

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