Better Than Ezra easily could have gone down the path of hundreds of other bands who folded after failing to find initial success. They endured through lean years and even some tragedies before they finally worked their way into the spotlight.
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Once there, they had an ace up their sleeve in the song “Good”. The song became an alternative-rock anthem when it finally received widespread exposure in 1995.
Becoming Better
To preserve the mystery, the members of Better Than Ezra have never disclosed the exact origins of their somewhat odd band name. It certainly helped them stand out once they came into the public eye. That breakout was around seven years in the making.
They formed as a true college band, with all four members matriculating at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge when they came together in 1988. Like many bands, they put together a couple of mostly homemade albums that received very little attention in their early years.
Better Than Ezra nearly folded after one of its early members, Joel Rundell, committed suicide in 1990. The remaining trio, guitarist Kevin Griffin, bassist Tom Drummond, and drummer Cary Bonnecaze, had to decide whether to continue. They eventually chose to soldier on.
Having amassed enough material over a few years, Better Than Ezra released the album Deluxe in 1993. At that point, they did it through their own label. But it eventually caught the attention of Elektra Records, which signed the band two years later and re-released Deluxe. The label’s choice for lead single: “Good”, a melodic midtempo track, which, like most of the band’s material, was written and sung by Kevin Griffin.
“Good” Intentions
Griffin explained to Songfacts what he had in mind when writing “Good”.
“I wanted to talk about the positive things that come from the end of a relationship,” said Griffin. “There’s always the hurt feelings and everyone’s guarded and it can be traumatic, but when the dust settles, it was about looking at the good things – no pun intended – that you got from that relationship.”
Griffin was in a relationship that he thought was healthy at the time he wrote the song, so it wasn’t technically autobiographical. But that relationship ended not long after, which means “Good” ended up having a predictive quality.
In any case, the song immediately received alternative airplay and found its way into steady rotation at MTV. It made it to no. 30 on the pop charts in 1995, which, as it turned out, meant that it was the band’s only Top 40 excursion.
Behind the Lyrics of “Good”
“Good” finds the narrator, surrounded by emptiness, trying to make sense of the end of a romance. “Searching for signs of life but there’s nobody home,” Griffin notes. He begins to doubt himself about what transpired, wondering if he’s to blame for taking for granted his ex’s presence.
He wonders if he should reach out to her: “Well, maybe I’ll call or write you a letter / Now maybe we’ll see on the fourth of July.”
Amidst the agony, he locates a bit of positivity: “Well I’m not too sure, and I’m not too proud to say / Aha, it was good living with you.”
Better Than Ezra never scaled those heights again with a single song, but at least they rebounded after a breakup. With Griffin and Drummond still in the fold, they released an album just last year. Meanwhile, “Good”, a song about finding the bright side in post-breakup darkness, proved quite great for this resilient band.
Photo by Terry Wyatt/Getty Images for Pilgrimage Music & Cultural Festival)
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