Better as a Memory
"Better as a Memory" is a song written by Scooter Carusoe and Lady Goodman and recorded by American country music artist Kenny Chesney. It was released in March 2008 as the fourth and final single from Chesney's 2007 album Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates. With a two-week stay, it became Chesney's fourteenth number one hit on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of June 28, 2008.
Content
The song is a ballad in which the narrator addresses a lover with whom he is splitting with, but most likely warning her he is not the kind to get deeply involved with. He then lists a series of similes regarding himself, ultimately telling her that he is "better as a memory / than as man".The co-writers of the song are both pseudonymous: Scooter Carusoe is a pseudonym for Travis Hill, founder of Carnival Music, and Lady Goodman is a pseudonym of Holly Gleason, Chesney's publicist and a music critic.
Critical reception
Noted Nashville critic Robert K Oermann of Music Row Magazine wrote that " could be the performance of life, perhaps his career."Leeann Ward of Country Universe gave the song a B− grade. She stated that the lyrics seem to be somewhat "self-indulgent" but then said that "the production is nice and Kenny’s vocals are spot on."