Better in Time

"Better in Time"

A sample of "Better in Time", a pop and R&B song composed in G major, which was described as a song with piano sounds harmonised with Lewis' voice.^[1]

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"Better in Time" is a pop and R&B ballad,^[2][3] written in common time, composed at a moderate tempo of eighty beats per minute, in the key of G flat major, with a vocal range spanning from C₄ to the note of B₅. The song has a sequence of G–Bm–Em–G/D–C as its chord progression.^[4][5] Lyrically the track talks about someone who cannot forget her ex-partner, and at the end the protagonist knows that "it will all get better in time".^[6]

Andrea Martin and J. R. Rotem wrote "Better in Time", with Rotem also producing it.^[6] In a 2017 interview with American Songwriter, Rotem recalled that he came up with the tune one night, and the following day he composed it in the studio. In another studio session, he met with Martin, who composed the lyrics. He also mentioned the possibility that the song could have been given to Whitney Houston, but Lewis ultimately liked it. He explained that the record label wanted separate versions for American and British radio, leading to fifteen different drum productions.^[2]

On 29 January 2008, Lewis announced on her website that "Better in Time", along with "Footprints in the Sand", would be released as a physical double A-side single on 10 March 2008, as her third single in the United Kingdom;^[7] however, "Better in Time" was digitally as an individual single on 25 February 2008.^[8] That year's Sport Relief, a biennial charity organised by Comic Relief and BBC Sport, selected "Footprints in the Sand" as their official single.^[9][10] It was also her second international single. A new mix of the song was created for the single release.^[10] The double A-side was released with "You Bring Me Down" as a B-side.^[9]

"Better in Time" received generally positive reviews. In his Spirit review, Chung Ah-young of The Korea Times described the track as "one of the best tracks [on the album] with impressive piano sounds harmonized with [Lewis's] powerful vocals".^[1] Alex Fletcher from Digital Spy gave the double A-side a mixed critique. He called the single a "placid affair" with "its plinky-plonky piano and R&B groove resting uncomfortably next to Lewis's creamy vocal style".^[11] The BBC's reviewer Fraser McAlpine gave "Better in Time" three stars out of five commenting that "The tune's quite nice, fairly hummable without ever actually going anywhere and despite the floaty, Mariah-esque qualities of Leona's vocals, it never goes completely mental in the throat-breakdancing department".^[12]

Chuck Taylor of Billboard gave a positive assessment, stating that "Better in Time" is of "equal caliber to its predecessor ["Bleeding Love"], with a one-listen hook, elegant chug-along melody, a lyric about healing and Lewis' unquestionably emotive vocal versatility".^[13] Nicole Frehsée of Rolling Stone described the vocals as "falsetto-soaked" and "butter-smooth", and compared the lyrics to those of "I Will Survive", by Gloria Gaynor.^[14]

Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe called it a "'love takes time' rumination", and, along with another song of the album ("I Will Be"), described it as "predictable".^[15] Sean Fennessey for Vibe noted that the track "is the best thing [on the album], is mannered and takes nearly three minutes to get off the ground".^[16] It ranked at number four on the "10 Best Singles of 2008" list by American magazine Entertainment Weekly.^[17] Sarah Walters found it strange that the song was selected for the Sport Relief since it has no sport-related lyrics, but described Lewis's vocals as "warbly".^[3]

"Better in Time" was nominated at the 2009 BRIT Awards in the category of Best British Single,^[18] and was later included on the awards' compilation album.^[19]

The double A-side "Better in Time" and "Footprints in the Sand" debuted at number 74 on the UK Singles Chart on 1 March 2008. Rising 36 places, it entered in the top 40 the following week, at number 38.^[20] On its fourth week, the song reached its peak position at number two, selling 40,476 copies, though it was kept from the top spot by Duffy's "Mercy". According to Alan Jones of Music Week, releasing both songs as a double A-side contributed to this, as the 7,525 copies sold individually by "Footprints in the Sand" during that week kept the single from surpassing "Mercy".^[21] The entry became Lewis's third single to reach the UK top five.^[22] The double A-side was certified as platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).^[23]

"Better in Time" and "Footprints in the Sand" debuted in the German charts on 16 June 2008 at number five. Although the single fell out the top ten the following week, in the issue dated 27 July, it returned to the top five, later peaking at number two.^[24] The double A-side debuted and peaked at number eight on the European Hot 100 Singles in the issue ending 29 March 2008, becoming the highest debut of the week.^[25] Moreover, "Better in Time" also had an individual success in the chart, eventually reached number seven on the chart in the week ending 2 August 2008.^[26]

Separately, in Denmark, "Better in Time" entered the charts at number twenty-nine on 9  May 2008, and managed to rise twenty-three places in the next two weeks, peaking at number three on 6 June 2008. It briefly slipped two places the following week, but returned to number three, where it stayed for three weeks.^[27] Later the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) certified the single as gold.^[28] The song also debuted at number 34 on New Zealand's RIANZ Chart on 17 March 2008, eventually reaching number nine after five weeks, and by its seventh week had climbed to number six, thereby becoming her second consecutive top ten hit in the country.^[29] In the Australian charts, it debuted at number 32 on 27 April 2008, reaching the top ten two weeks later, her second single to secure the top ten.^[30] On 25 May 2008 "Better in Time" reached its peak position, at number six, and remained within the top fifty for eighteen weeks.^[30] It was later certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).^[31] In Switzerland, the track debuted at number thirteen as the week's highest new entry.^[32] On 27 July 2008, its ninth week, it reached its peak position at number five, becoming Lewis's second top-five hit in the country. It remained in the top ten for eleven weeks and last appeared on the chart on 22 March 2009, forty-two weeks after its debut.^[33]

In the week ending 26 April 2008, "Better in Time" debuted at number sixty-two on the Billboard Hot 100,^[34] in the same week that her previous single, "Bleeding Love", topped the chart.^[35] Next week it dropped out of the chart but later re-entered the Hot 100 at number seventy-five, becoming the best comeback of the week.^[36] The single peaked at number eleven in its fourteenth week, remaining there for a second week.^[26][37] In other US charts, "Better in Time" peaked at number four on the Adult Top 40,^[26] ninety-nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs,^[26] number three on the Mainstream Top 40,^[26] and at number four on the Adult Contemporary, where it spent fifty-two weeks.^[26][38] The song entered the German chart on 22 February 2009 at number seventy-nine, where it stayed for three weeks.^[39] It achieved a gold certification by the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (BVMI).^[40]

"Better in Time" became the seventeenth best-selling single of 2008 in Austria,^[41] the twenty-second in Germany and Switzerland,^[42][43] the thirty-sixth in New Zealand,^[44] the thirty-seventh in the UK,^[45] the fifty-fifth of Australia,^[31] the sixty-fourth in the Netherlands,^[46] and the seventy-second in Flanders, a region in Belgium.^[47]

The music video was directed by British filmmaker Sophie Muller at Hampton Court House School in London in February 2008,^[48] and was released at the end of the same month.^[49] The video is inspired by fashion design, with Lewis performing in front of "unrelated photographic set-ups" while also showing what goes on behind the scenes.^[50] At certain points, Lewis appears alongside a horse.^[51]

Lewis performed "Better in Time" on several television programmes and live events. She first sang it on Dancing on Ice on 9 March 2008.^[52] and performed both tracks of the double A-side on Sport Relief on 14 March.^[53] In the United States, she promoted the single on Good Morning America on 4 April 2008,^[54] and on the Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where she also sang "Bleeding Love".^[55] Later that year she performed it on Live with Regis and Kelly on 3 September,^[56] during the season finale of America's Got Talent on 1 October,^[57] and she sang it at the 2008 American Music Awards on 24 November.^[58]

In 2011, Lewis sang a reggae-styled mash of "Better in Time" and Rihanna's "Man Down" for BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge,^[59] and the original version was included on the charity compilation Songs for Japan, released on 25 March 2011 in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.^[60] The song was later used in the Pretty Little Liars season two finale "unmAsked", during the masquerade ball scene.^[61]

Lewis added "Better in Time" to the setlist of her Labyrinth Tour in 2010, where it was performed fourth in the show.^[62] The performance was included on the live album and Blu-ray The Labyrinth Tour: Live from the O2, released on 29 November 2010.^[62] In 2013, Lewis revived the mashup with "Man Down" for her Glassheart Tour.^[63] She has added the song to the setlist of her 2016 I Am Tour.^[64]