Newman began his musical career in the 1990s as a member of the Vancouver grunge/pop group Superconductor. After a brief stay, he joined the Vancouver-based pop group Zumpano. The band released two albums with Newman in the mid-1990s, Look What the Rookie Did and Goin' Through Changes, both of which received favorable reviews. Though Zumpano never officially announced their breakup, they have not recorded any new material since the 90s.
Newman is a founding member of the successful Vancouver-based pop supergroup The New Pornographers. The band has released five full length albums since 2000, all of which received favorable reviews. In 2007, Blender ranked the group's debut album, Mass Romantic, the 24th best indie album of all time. Newman is the band's main songwriter and vocalist, and is generally regarded as the band's leader.
His debut solo album, The Slow Wonder, was released in Summer 2004, and his sophomore album, Get Guilty, was released in early 2009. He released his third album, Shut Down the Streets, in 2012.
Better Than Most
A.C. Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Walking wounded through the stars tonight, we wander the plains,
Pointing pistols at the dawn.
Never looked into your eyes this long,
With a dollars worth of distance run,
Courtesy of the broken and holy one.
And I wish this was a crowded room, now the challenge is on,
And I never learned to fly.
Never looked into your eyes this long,
With a dollars worth of distance run,
Courtesy of the broken and holy one.
Better than most at feeling no pain,
Just as soon as you arrive, we'll start,
I want to explain why I never learned to fly.
Never looked into your eyes this long,
With a dollars worth of distance run,
Courtesy of the broken and holy one.
Better than most at feeling no pain.
Better then most at feeling your pain.
In A.C. Newman's song Better Than Most, he describes himself and the person he is speaking to as "walking wounded" who wander the plains, pointing pistols at the dawn. These lyrics allude to the struggles and pain that they have experienced, but despite their hardships, they have become adept at feeling and surviving their pain. Newman sings about never having looked into this person's eyes for very long but now they have, and they both have been through difficult journeys. They have run "a dollars worth of distance run, courtesy of the broken and holy one," which emphasizes the idea that they have been beaten down but still manage to keep going.
The lines "Your lipstick is thick but Paris is gone, And I wish this was a crowded room, now the challenge is on, And I never learned to fly" can be interpreted in a few ways. The person's lipstick could symbolize their mask, and Paris being gone could represent the loss of idealism and beauty of the past. The crowded room could represent being lost in the crowd, while the challenge could represent the opportunity to be seen and known. The line "And I never learned to fly" could also represent the inability to escape their circumstances and the difficulties they face.
The song concludes with the repetition of the lines "never looked into your eyes this long, with a dollars worth of distance run, courtesy of the broken and holy one," and the final verse, "Better than most at feeling no pain, just as soon as you arrive, we'll start, I want to explain why I never learned to fly." These repeated lines emphasize the fact that despite their pain, they have become skilled at feeling and processing it. The last verse suggests that he wants to explain his inability to escape his situation, perhaps to this person, highlighting the connection between them.
Line by Line Meaning
Better than most at feeling your pain,
I am adept at empathizing with the pain you are feeling.
Walking wounded through the stars tonight, we wander the plains,
We are both feeling lost and isolated, as if wandering through a vast, empty space.
Pointing pistols at the dawn.
We are confronting the unknown future with trepidation and anxiety.
Never looked into your eyes this long,
I am paying close attention to you in a way I never have before.
With a dollars worth of distance run,
We have been through a lot of pain and hardship to get to this point.
Courtesy of the broken and holy one.
Our struggles have been caused, in part, by forces beyond our control.
Your lipstick is thick but Paris is gone,
You are trying to hold onto things that have been lost or taken away from you.
And I wish this was a crowded room, now the challenge is on,
I am feeling overwhelmed and uncertain in this moment of vulnerability.
And I never learned to fly.
I have always felt limited and unable to fully achieve my potential.
Better than most at feeling no pain,
I am skilled at hiding my own anguish and putting on a brave face.
Just as soon as you arrive, we'll start,
I am eager to begin this new phase of our relationship or interaction.
I want to explain why I never learned to fly.
I feel compelled to share my own struggles and limitations with you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: CARL ALLAN NEWMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sean Mullen
A.C. Newman, this song is amazing and I think it's safe to say a little under the radar with the 13 likes (sad). I guess I'll put the standard comment too "Still here in 2018"
Arif Memovic
This record was criminally underrated.
Darth Anddedeu
I had forgotten, as I'm adjusting the algarythm to suggest better for I keep getting bcaught into smaller niche and this was suggested, I feel foolish for forgetting but as soon as I saw the name I remembered