Music Review: The Band Perry "Better Dig Two"

The Band Perry

Better Dig Two

Album: Pioneer

Year: 2012

        Kimberly Perry ‘s husband is her entire world in the steadfast  “Better Big Two.”

       A fragile fiddle opens the single, setting a meaningful  tone.  She and her husband were finishing watching their favorite television show together. After watching the preview for next week’s episode where the husband on the show kisses another woman, he teases her, saying it’s ok that she left him for the handsome star. She shakes her head no, telling him she wouldn’t be able to do it. Even if the star came by tomorrow and asked her out, it would never happen. She cares for him more than she has anyone. He is the only man she has ever made love to and she can’t imagine ever being married to another man. (“I told you on the day we wed/I was gonna love you 'til I's dead/Made you wait 'til our wedding night/That's the first and the last time I'll wear white.”)

             In the pre-chorus, she tells him if they ever reach the point where they can no longer talk about their day or be themselves around each other, she won’t be able to live. She couldn’t watch him invite another woman into his life and creating a home with her. (“So if the ties that bind ever do come loose/Tie 'em in a knot like a hangman's noose/Cause I'll go to heaven or I'll go to hell/Before I'll see you with someone else.”)

          In the chorus, she explains she would be numb with pain, unable to function. She might as well be dead. Losing him would destroy her.  (“Put me in the ground/Put me six foot down/And let the stone say: "Here lies the girl whose only crutch/Was loving one man just a little too much"/If you go before I do/I'm gonna tell the gravedigger that he better dig two.”)

            On her deathbed, he will be in her last thoughts as she remembers the life they shared. Breaking up or an accident would cause her to spiral. She can’t imagine her life without him. (“Well/It won't be whiskey, won't be meth/It'll be your name on my last breath/If divorce or death ever do us part/The coroner will call it a broken heart.”)

         The chorus is sung again.

     In the bridge, the fiddle, now longing, accompanies her as she she says “dig two” and “oh’s” for a bit.

        She continues to say in the bridge her words from her vows still are important to her. Ten years ago, she thought she might’ve gotten married. It wasn’t a serious possibility until she met him. When she first looked at her driver’s license with his last name on it, she was proud.  A part of her identity is with him. (“ I took your name when I took those vows/I meant 'em back then and I mean 'em right now/Oh, right now.”)

           In the pre-chorus, she tells him he ever feels trapped or thinks of straying, a part of her will die. (“If the ties that bind ever do come loose/If "forever" ever ends for you/If that ring gets a little too tight/You might as well read me my last rites.”)

        A drum kicks up the final chorus again. In the final chorus, a second part is added.  In it, she says they will be buried next to each other and for him to stay as healthy as she is until they are both ready to leave the world. (“Heavy stone right next to mine/We'll be together 'til the end of time/Don't you go before I do,/I'm gonna tell the gravedigger that he better dig two.”)

          Perry sings the a couple lyrics from the first verse to end the single. (“I told you on the day we wed/
I was gonna love you 'til I's dead.”)

       Perry’s purposeful, unbreakable vocals  are protective, holding strong onto every note with a force of will. Her husband is everything to her. He’s her best friend and the one person she can talk to about anything. She’s realistic about relationships. They don’t always work out or a tragedy happens, changing the dynamics. Nonetheless, there’s a part of her that hopes for the fairytale.

    Perry’s a bit hard on herself in the chorus. She may have heard she was co-dependent before which is why she might see it as a flaw. It’s a human, honest emotion and nothing she shouldn’t have to defend.  

  The exposed “Better Dig Two” experiences a love people wish they could have.