A poignant reminder that missing someone doesn’t mean you should go back, Baby Rose’s stirring “Better” from her genre-spanning third album ‘YEARNALISM’ is a soulful, introspective R&B anthem that transforms the pain of lingering heartbreak into a powerful act of self-preservation.

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Stream: “Better” – Baby Rose

There is a line early in Baby Rose’s song “Better” that changes the song: “I miss you, babe, but that doesn’t mean anything to me.”

Baby Rose cuts through one of love’s myths in this one line. We are taught that missing someone is enough, that longing is a reason to go back, forgive, or try one more time. Baby Rose’s song “Better” suggests something more complicated.

Often, memories outlast a relationship. You can miss someone and still know they no longer belong in your life. Longing is not a sign to return to someone. It is simply proof that what you had was both real and gone.

That realization sits at the heart of one of Baby Rose’s revealing and catchy songs, “Better” – a standout from her recently released third album, YEARNALISM (July 10 via Secretly Canadian).

“YEARNALISM is me documenting desire in all its forms: whether it be romantic or personal, who I love or who I’m becoming, the ache, the growth, and everything in between,” Rose says.

On “Better,” those two questions – who she loves and who she’s becoming – come into conflict. Desire stops making the decisions for her. Baby Rose is not trying to erase her feelings for her ex-partner. She is learning to live with them without letting them dictate her future.

The first verse of “Better” comes with an image of a standoff between the lovers. “Stood in the kitchen, giving me those eyes / Staring wide at me like you could read my mind.” The lyric captures the familiarity of a relationship that is already beginning to dissolve. The kitchen, a place of routine and comfort, becomes the setting where both people understand what neither is ready to say about their relationship. Before anyone speaks, their silence and stares have already spoken volumes between them.

Then comes the lyric that reveals how the relationship unraveled: “Think I got used to you letting me down.” It shows heartbreak is not always caused by one betrayal. Often it is built slowly through repeated disappointments, broken promises, and the exhausting feeling that you are the only one still trying to make the relationship work. By the time Baby Rose asks, “How many times / You expect me to change? / While you stay the same,” the inequity in the relationship has become more than apparent.

Musically, warm keys and guitar leave plenty of room for Baby Rose’s voice, never competing with it.

Every choice feels intentional, allowing the songwriting to stay at the center of “Better.”

When the chorus of “Better” arrives, it does not sound like an argument. It sounds like a promise Baby Rose is making to herself. “You know I’m better than that… Can’t hurt myself just to save your feelings.” It is the kind of realization that only comes after disappointment. Baby Rose understands that kindness does not have to come at the expense of her well-being. Loving someone should not mean tolerating being continuously hurt.

The bridge of the track describes a hypothetical situation where the relationship may have survived had the partner been different: “I would’ve gave you everything.” She sings with her belly and soul; there is no bitterness in the lyric, only the resigned honesty of someone who genuinely loved another person and had that love taken for granted.

Relationships can end for many different reasons, but rarely is any one particular reason recalled as the only one. Many times, it’s an accumulation, a slow erosion. Sometimes it is the feeling that love has died, but frequently it is recognizing that love may have been real yet insufficient to justify a relationship continuing.

“Better” is so compelling because it manages to sound simultaneously like a period piece and something that speaks to today.

The unhurried nature of the performance, the languid piano and guitar, and the recurring refrain all recall early recordings from Muscle Shoals, where greats like Aretha Franklin recorded and silence was often as expressive as the instrumentation.

There is no wasted movement in any part of this composition. The entire production creates space for Rose’s voice to inhabit the song, and her rich contralto style has an immediate appeal that recalls legends like Etta James and Nina Simone. Rather than only channeling these influences, Baby Rose has a confidence in her technique and musicality that makes her sound completely her own.

“Better” is a breakup song that examines the ways in which the past is always informing the present.

This is the sort of maturity in songwriting that makes vintage soul music from the 1960s so rewarding to revisit, and I love to see artists like Baby Rose creating in that dreamy, technicolored atmosphere. She does so with remarkable passion and precision.

The refrain “I’m better than that,” which defines the chorus, becomes a commitment to empowerment and self-awareness. Baby Rose may no longer be willing to sacrifice her own well-being for the sake of a relationship, but she never loses the capacity for empathy or self-love. What defines the best love songs is that they encapsulate the difficulty of letting go, and “Better” captures how the most generous thing Baby Rose can do is to extend herself grace.

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Stream: “Better” – Baby Rose

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