"Better Dig Two" is a song recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group

The Band Perry The Band Perry are an American band composed of siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid Perry (bass guitar, background vocals), and Neil Perry (mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals). They signed to Republic Nashville in August 2 ...

. It was released in October 2012 as the first single from their second album, '' Pioneer''. The song was written by

Brandy Clark Brandy Lynn Clark (born October 9, 1975) is an American country music singer-songwriter. Her songs have been recorded by Sheryl Crow, Miranda Lambert, The Band Perry, Reba McEntire, LeAnn Rimes, Billy Currington, Darius Rucker, and Kacey Mu ...

Shane McAnally Shane Lamar McAnally (born October 12, 1974) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and record producer. He debuted as a singer in 1999 with his Shane McAnally (album), self-titled album on Curb Records. This project produced three sing ...

and Trevor Rosen.

Content

The song is a mid-tempo in which the female narrator tells her husband that, should he die before she does, she would rather die and be buried next to him. She also threatens that if he betrays her, she'll kill him and then kill herself: "If the ties that bind ever do come loose / If forever ever ends for you / If that ring gets a little too tight / They might as well read me my last rites / Cause I'll go to heaven or I'll go to hell / Before I'll see you with someone else." The song is in A Dorian (i.e., an

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic ...

scale with the sixth tone raised by a half-step). Kimberly Perry's vocals range from A3 to C5. The main accompaniment is

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric Guitar amplifier, sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickup (music technology), pickups ...

, and percussion.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from music critics. Billy Dukes of ''

Taste of Country Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...

'' gave the song three and a half stars out of five, writing that "cast in the shadow of the dark and stormy production … the gesture isn't sweet and romantic, but sort of unnerving." Matt Bjorke of ''Roughstock'' gave the song four stars, saying that "in addition to featuring Kimberly Perry's dynamic vocals we have a lound/soft '' ic' melodic dynamic with banjos, mandolins, fiddles and electric guitars mixed in with a rock attitude and cries of steel guitars as well." Ben Foster of ''Country Universe'' gave the song a B grade, calling it "one of the most interesting and organic-sounding new tunes with a shot at radio airplay." Writing for ''Urban Country News'', Liv Carter gave the song a 'thumbs up,' praising the "very modern, yet very rootsy, country sound."

Music video

The music video was directed by Declan Whitebloom and filmed in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. It premiered on CMT on December 4, 2012.

Live performances

"Better Dig Two" was performed at

Billboard Music Awards The ''Billboard'' Music Awards are honors given out annually by '' Billboard'', a publication covering the music business and a music popularity chart. The ''Billboard'' Music Awards show has been held annually since 1990, with the exception of ...

on May 19, 2013.

Chart performance

"Better Dig Two" debuted at number 9 on the U.S. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart for the week of November 17, 2012. It also debuted at number 53 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart for the week of November 17, 2012. It also debuted at number 57 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007 as the standard record chart in Canada; a new chart ...

chart for the week of November 17, 2012. It has sold 1,457,000 copies in the US as of June 2013.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 2012 singles 2012 songs The Band Perry songs Republic Records singles Songs written by Shane McAnally Song recordings produced by Dann Huff Republic Nashville singles Songs written by Brandy Clark Songs written by Trevor Rosen