At the 2016 Country Music Awards, Little Big Town blessed the world with the first Taylor Swift written song since her "1989" Album. The song is called "Better Man" and let me be probably the ten millionth person to tell you, it is amazing. I think the fact that it hit number 1 on iTunes the night of its release is proof enough.

Being a HUGE fan of country music and an ever bigger fan of Little Big Town, buying this song on iTunes was a no brainer. I didn't think to listen to it on YouTube first or listen to the preview on iTunes. I bought it, plugged in my headphones, and put the song on repeat.

After one listen, I was in tears.

The title "Better Man" gave some hints. This is obviously a classic Taylor Swift break up song, probably about someone who needs to be a better man. But the actual story in the song is so much more.

First verse: "I know I'm probably better off on my own than loving a man who didn't know what he had when he had it." The truth that so many of us just can't accept sometimes. Realizing that in the end, it is better for us to be on our own that giving so much to someone who never even realizes how much you are giving to them. And that the best thing to do in that moment truly is to run. "I wish it wasn't 4 a.m., standing in the mirror saying to myself, you know you had to do it. I know the bravest thing I ever did was run." Ever had those 4 a.m. talks with yourself? Or the car ride talks? The "you know you deserve better, so why the hell are still trying?"

Second verse: "I know I'm probably better off all alone than needing a man who could change his mind at any given minute. And it's always on your terms: I'm hanging on every careless word, hoping it might turn sweet again like it was in the beginning." The wishy-washy types. This verse is dedicated to them. They text you, they text you, and then they don't. For minutes, hours, days, weeks. So you finally text them first but then "hey" is all you get back. Or how about the ones who never even respond? Aren't those the best? Don't they just give you that exact warm and fuzzy inside feeling you are supposed to get when the person you love texts you? No they don't. And they should. Trust me, I get it. You want to hold on to every bit of hope. Every smiley face, every Instagram like, every glance in the hallway. But there is a time when the playing "hard to get" stops being play and is just a game. A mean, mean game.

But then the strength comes into play.

"You're talking down to me like I'll always be around. You push my love away like it's some kind of loaded gun. Boy, you never thought I'd run."

"I hold onto this pride because these days it's all I have. And I gave you my best and we both know you can't say that. No, you can't say that."

No matter how bad it may hurt in the beginning, we all know the pain of walking away is so much less than the pain of staying. The waiting game, the chase, the push and pull. All of the "games." None of the pain that comes from those things even come close to the pain that you feel when you walk away. Because the pain when you walk away goes away after a while. And sure, it comes in waves. You see them out at parties, carrying on with their lives, as if nothing happened and you feel like the whole world is crashing around you because you lost this one person, but is it really? No, it isn't. And that pain will never compare to the pain you would feel if you stayed. And played their games, and responded to every text and granted their every wish and followed their every command. Let's remember, a relationship is a two way street that BOTH people in the relationship need to walk down.

"Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I can feel you again. But I just miss you and I just wish you were a better man. And I know why we had to say goodbye like the back of my hand and I just miss you and I just wish you were a better man."

And even in the end, after you get all liberated and free from this toxic relationship. After the four AM conversations with yourself and the realization that you are there for them way more than they are there for you, you still realize that in the end, you just miss them. And you just wish they were a better man. You wish they would text you first, you wish they could pick up when you call, you wish they would be there to let you sob when your day has gone to shit. You just wish that they would do everything for you that you do for them. That maybe, you would be their top priority for once since they have been yours more times than you can count.

And this all hit me in the first listen. The rawness and realness of this song is unreal. It truly captures everything you feel when you know it's time to say goodbye. The pain, the liberation, the sadness, the sense of relief, the wanting to remember everything that made you angry, and forget everything that was "magic."

And overall, that thought: "we might still be in love, if you were a better man."