I Wanna Get Better

**I Wanna Get Better** is the debut single of Bleachers and the first single from the album Strange Desire. It has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America as of January 2021. It was released on February 18, 2014.

## Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Hey, I hear the voice of a preacher from the back room

Calling my name and I follow just to find you

I trace the faith to a broken down television, and put on the weather

And I've trained myself to give up on the past 'cause

I froze in time between hearses and caskets

Lost control when I panicked at the acid test

I wanna get better

[Verse 2]

While my friends were getting high and chasing girls down parkway lines

I was losing my mind because the love, the love, the love, the love, the love

That I gave wasted on a nice face

In a blaze of fear I put a helmet on a helmet

Counting seconds through the night and got carried away

[Pre-Chorus]

So now I'm standing on the overpass screaming at the cars

"Hey, I wanna get better!"

[Chorus]

I didn’t know I was lonely 'til I saw your face

I wanna get better, better, better, better

I wanna get better

I didn't know I was broken 'til I wanted to change

I wanna get better, better, better, better

I wanna get better

[Verse 3]

I go up to my room and there's girls on the ceiling

Cut out their pictures and I chase that feeling

Of an eighteen year old who didn't know what loss was

Now I'm a stranger

And I miss the days of a life still permanent

Mourn the years before I got carried away

[Pre-Chorus]

So now I'm staring at the interstate screaming at myself

"Hey, I wanna get better!"

[Chorus]

I didn’t know I was lonely 'til I saw your face

I wanna get better, better, better, better

I wanna get better

I didn't know I was broken 'til i wanted to change

I wanna get better, better, better, better

I wanna get better

[Bridge]

'Cause I'm sleeping in the back of a taxi

I'm screaming from my bedroom window

Even if it's gonna kill me

[Verse 4]

Woke up this morning early before my family

From this dream where she was trying to show me

How a life can move from the darkness

She said to get better

So I put a bullet where I shoulda put a helmet

And I crash my car 'cause I wanna get carried away

[Pre-Chorus]

That's why I'm standing on the overpass screaming at myself

"Hey, I wanna get better!"

[Chorus]

I didn’t know I was lonely 'til I saw your face

I wanna get better, better, better, better

I wanna get better

I didn't know I was broken 'til I wanted to change

I wanna get better, better, better, better

I wanna get better

## Commentary

* "It meant a lot to me also lyrically to put something out that was really weighty." -Jack Antonoff, in an interview with RadioBDC.
* "'All My Heroes' is about trying to do better. It’s almost, and no one would ever know this because they sound so different, but it’s almost like a part two to '**I Wanna Get Better**.' 'All My Heroes' to me is like, the adult version of “**I Wanna Get Better**.” Like, the 'I Wanna Get Better' that you shout once you’ve, like touched down in the real world and you're out of place." —Jack Antonoff via YouTube

## Themes & Motifs

###### First Sight

* I Wanna Get Better: "I didn't know I was lonely 'til I saw your face"
* Daylight: "I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you"

## Trivia

* The song was partially written while Jack was in Malaysia .
* The protagonists of MTV's 2017 show "Sweet/Vicious" sang along to this song in episode seven, entitled "Heartbreaker." Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was the showrunner for Sweet/Vicious. Robinson went on to make the 2019 film "Someone Great," which was inspired by Taylor Swift's album *1989* -- especially the song "Clean." Taylor Swift in turn wrote the song "Death by a Thousand Cuts" after being inspired by the film.
* Jack is a fan of John Darnielle's project The Mountain Goats. Perhaps their most famous song, "This Year" contains the line "I am going to make it through this year / if it kills me" . This is seemingly emulated in "I Wanna Get Better" with "I wanna get better / 'cause I'm sleeping in the back of a taxi / I'm screaming through my bedroom window / even if it's gonna kill me."
* Mitski also has a 'first sight' motif in her song "Come Into the Water" from *Be the Cowboy:* "I didn't know I had a dream / I didn't know until I saw you" .

## Tweets

* happy anniversary to the second bleachers song ever released. this was the the 2nd runner arrow for single art featuring arrow who was on the i wanna get better art. i remember making the initial parts to shadow and having that one lyric “if you’re feeling small i will love your shadow” and imagining the entire world this song could live in. still love playing this one live. usually early in the set to get things wild. hang on to your shadows right now ... see you soon
* i wanna get better was released 6 years ago today. it was the beginning of our little family. proud to be here with you. thank you for making it your own as you’ve done with this entire world of ours.
* years ago today i wanna get better was released. wish we were together tonight on an overpass screaming at the cars.... or a show... or anywhere :) but here we are, so share with us the first time you heard the song
* still standing on the overpass ....
* almost time to tell you about B3. this anniversary has me overwhelmed with all of it in the right way.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab\_active=default-award&ar=Bleachers&ti=I+Wanna+Get+Better&format=Single&type=#search\_section
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2014 interview with RadioBDC https://youtu.be/VYa1pBqRV\_8?t=206
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5ZswMr05es&list=PLsh4QmACcJ6fbq5vgJKJhIqSikGPKRy2v&index=6&ab\_channel=bleachers
4. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/bleachers/comments/89tmdi/the\_stories\_behind\_every\_song\_on\_gone\_now/
5. ↑ https://genius.com/The-mountain-goats-this-year-lyrics
6. ↑ https://genius.com/Mitski-come-into-the-water-lyrics
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/bleachersmusic/status/1258060229087916032
8. ↑ https://twitter.com/bleachersmusic/status/1258060334549458946
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/bleachersmusic/status/1229827057028386818
10. ↑ File:2020-02-18 956am bleachersmusic tweet.png
11. ↑ https://twitter.com/bleachersmusic/status/1362585952036732928
12. ↑ File:2021-02-18 613pm bleachersmusic tweet.png
13. ↑ File:2020-02-18 959am Jack tweet.png
14. ↑ File:2020-02-18 10am Jack tweet.png