“Better Be Good to Me” by Tina Turner

The way the storyline “Better Be Good to Me” plays out is as if Tina has found someone whom she is smitten with. And likewise said individual expresses mutual love for her.  However, she is taking a more action-speaks-louder-than-words approach. Therefore she is entreating him to treat her “good”. In other words, when conflicts arise between the two of them, she does not want “to fight”. And the way the lyrics come off is that maybe she is letting him know this before they get really deeply involved, or perhaps he has already shown himself to be abusive. But either way, she expects to be treated with respect throughout the course of their relationship.

Facts about “Better Be Good to Me”

This is actually the cover of a song which was originally released in 1981 by a band called Spider. And Capitol Records dropped Tina Turner’s rendition on May 29th, 1984 as part of her album “Private Dancer”, with the track also serving as the fourth single from that project.

Said band featured Holly Knight, who is one of the song’s writers, on keyboard. And the other writers are Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. And according to history, Chinn did not actually contribute to its composition but rather had a contract with Chapman in which they would always share writing credits.

Knight has noted that her inspiration for writing this song came from a love note someone gave to her.

Tina’s version of the tune turned out to be a serious hit. For example, it reached as high as number 5 on the Billboard’s noted Hot 100, in addition to appearing on 3 other Billboard charts. It also charted in eight other countries and in the process has been certified Gold in Canada.

Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer” album was a big hit in and of itself, taking home four Grammys in 1985. And one of those awards, Best Female Rock Performance, was given to this song.

Turner’s rendition of “Better Be Good to Me” was produced by Rupert Hine.

It has been noted that while Tina did not write this song, it has personal-historical context to her. That is to say that she did suffer from one of the most infamous cases of celebrity spousal abuse at the hands of her former husband, Ike Turner (1931-2007).  They were (possibly) married in 1962 but did in fact divorce in 1978.