This song is a sleeper if you’re in to this kind of music. “Better With Time” is a slow song at the tail end of Prince’s 2009 album MPLSound. Like so much of his music, everything you hear on this track is Prince. Every instrument, every voice.
When I first saw the title of the song I assumed he was referring to himself, but that’s not at all what the song is about. This is a stripped down masterpiece featuring sparse drum programming, a piano, and Prince’s falsetto. The lyrical content of the song is Prince letting his love interest know that she only gets better with time. He’s not venturing in to territory where others haven’t gone before. He’s just doing it better. The songwriting is far more poetic than most and his voice is flawless. The music geek in me loves the drum programming in this song. It’s simple and doesn’t overpower the song, but there’s a hint of the Linn drum sound of his early years and I’m a sucker for that every time.
I don’t have a lot more to say about this song. It’s beautiful and when I talk about deep, deep cuts in the Prince catalog that should see the light of day more often, this track belongs in the conversation. “Better With Time” deserved better than to be buried at the end of a mostly forgettable album.
mookiefantana 