"A Better Man" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 artist Clint Black

Clint Black

Clint Patrick Black is an American country music singer-songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and occasional actor. Signed to RCA Records in 1989, Black made his debut with his Killin' Time album, which produced four straight Number One singles on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country...

. It was released in February 1989 as the lead and debut single from his debut album, Killin' Time. It was written by Black and Hayden Nicholas

Hayden Nicholas

James Hayden Nicholas is a country guitarist and songwriter.Nicholas grew up in the Houston, Texas area, where he taught himself to play guitar at age nine. In the early 1980s, he was briefly member of the band Revolver, headlined by Tim McCrary, which played extensively in Texas...

. When "A Better Man" went to No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

 chart on June 10, Black became the first artist since Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender

Freddy Fender , born Baldemar Garza Huerta in San Benito, Texas, United States, was a Mexican-American Tejano, country and rock and roll musician, known for his work as a solo artist and in the groups Los Super Seven and the Texas Tornados...

 to ascend to the top of the country chart with his first charted single. In addition, "A Better Man" was the No. 1 song of 1989 on the Hot Country Singles chart. The success of "A Better Man," along with the follow-up "Killin' Time

Killin' Time (Clint Black song)

"Killin' Time" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Clint Black. It was released in July 1989 as the second single and title track from his debut album. The song was his second number-one hit on the U.S. Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart and the...

," were instrumental in Black winning the Country Music Association

Country Music Association

The Country Music Association was founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee. It originally consisted of only 233 members and was the first trade organization formed to promote a music genre...

's Horizon Award in 1989.

Content

The song is a reflection on a relationship co-writer Black had recently ended with a girlfriend of seven years. He shared his dying romance story with friend Hayden Nicholas

Hayden Nicholas

James Hayden Nicholas is a country guitarist and songwriter.Nicholas grew up in the Houston, Texas area, where he taught himself to play guitar at age nine. In the early 1980s, he was briefly member of the band Revolver, headlined by Tim McCrary, which played extensively in Texas...

, who - after sharing an idea for the melody - came up with the hook line ("I'm leaving here a better man/For knowing you this way.").

Music video

A video was issued for the song, it was directed by Bill Young and premiered in early 1989.

Chart positions

Chart (1989)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles	1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks	1

See also

• Whitburn, Joel, "Top Country Songs: 1944-2005," 2006.