"I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better)" is a song by Canadian punk band

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...

. The song was released on April 3, 2020, as the second single from their sixth album, ''

Crisis of Faith Spiritual crisis (also called "spiritual emergency") is a form of identity crisis where an individual experiences drastic changes to their meaning system (i.e., their unique purposes, goals, values, attitude and beliefs, identity, and focus) typ ...

''. It eventually became the album's third single after the band chose to include a previously non-album single, "

Forgiveness I + II Forgiveness, in a psychological sense, is the intentional and voluntary process by which one who may have felt initially wronged, victimized, harmed, or hurt goes through a process of changing feelings and attitude regarding a given offender fo ...

", on ''Crisis of Faith.'' The song was written by

Ben Kowalewicz Benjamin Ian Kowalewicz (; born December 16, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. He is the lead vocalist of rock band Billy Talent. Early life Kowalewicz was born in Montreal. He grew up in Pierrefonds. When he was 11, he and his famil ...

Ian D'Sa Ian D'Sa is a Canadian guitarist, producer and songwriter best known as a member of the rock band Billy Talent. Early life and career Ian was born in the suburb of Southall, Ealing, London. He is of Goan background. His family moved to Canad ...

, Jonathan Gallant, and

Jordan Hastings Jordan "Ratbeard" Michael Hastings (born March 15, 1982) is a Canadian musician born in Hamilton, Ontario. He is best known as the drummer of Alexisonfire, having replaced their former drummer Jesse Ingelevics. Hastings was originally intended t ...

Background

"I Beg To Differ (This Will Get Better)" originated from a collection of scratch vocals written by D'Sa. From there, the band transformed those lyrics into a motivational song addressing those close to them suffering from mental illness, and letting them know that everything is going to be alright.

"That message is really important. It was challenging to write, and we worked really hard on it. Nowadays there's a lot of artists and a lot of people saying that message in metaphor – and I love that too – but sometimes it's just nice to just hear it the way it is and be that direct: it will get better, stick through it.” - Ben Kowalewicz

Release and reception

"I Beg to Differ (This Will Get Better)" was released on April 3, 2020, with many believing that it was released in response to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A lyric video was also released with the song that included a list of phone numbers for

crisis hotline A crisis hotline is a phone number people can call to get immediate emergency telephone counseling, usually by trained volunteers. The first such service was founded in England in 1951 and such hotlines have existed in most major cities of the E ...

s in 20 different countries. The song has received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising its uplifting message. Amgad Abdelgadir of

Louder Sound ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 196 ...

called the song "an uplifting belter", while Matt Bobkin of

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

felt the song's message of hope fit well with the pandemic. Mark Sutherland of

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

was a bit more critical of the song for its more pop-centered direction, calling it "radio-friendly sheen and pop positivity".

Personnel

Billy Talent *

- lead vocals, songwriting *

- guitars, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals, producer *

Jonathan Gallant Billy Talent is a Canadian rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup changes, althoug ...

- bass, songwriting *

- drums, songwriting Production *

Eric Ratz Eric Ratz is a Canadian producer, engineer, and mixer. He has won multiple Grammy and Juno awards. Throughout his career, Ratz has worked with some of Canada's most successful and influential rock bands, including Arkells, Big Wreck, Billy Talen ...

- engineering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' '' Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Early life ...

- engineering *

Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...

- mixing

Charts

References

{{Billy Talent 2020 singles 2020 songs Billy Talent songs Songs written by Ian D'Sa Songs written by Benjamin Kowalewicz Songs written by Jonathan Gallant