“Try Better Next Time” by Placebo

According to vocalist Brian Molko, “Try Better Next Time” is intended to be one of those end-of-the-world types of songs. More to the point is him coming to the realization that even after humanity itself has perished, the actual Earth itself will continue to spin on. 

So it’s as if we have grown too cocky for our own good, and resultantly it’s only a matter of time before we get dealt with decisively by Mother Nature.

But by the looks of things, average listeners would be hard-pressed to actually ascertain that premise solely from the lyrics. In fact, an average listener may be hard-pressed to figure out what this song is about in general. 

Lyrics of “Try Better Next Time”

The first verse reads sorta like a Disney cartoon. Here, we witness, amongst other musings, the animal kingdom ‘dancing carefree and joyous’ in the thick of the woods. And in the second verse the subject is the vocalist himself, who comes off as somebody who has “the weight of the world” on his shoulders.

But now thinking about it, maybe this all does make some kind of comprehensive sense as detailed above. For instance, those happy animals may represent the post-human world. And the reason the vocalist is so stressed out is because he is a prophet, so to speak, who is able to perceive that our doom is imminent. 

But such an explanation still leaves something to be desired in terms of what the phrase “wake up, try better next time” is supposed to mean, unless that expression is meant to mock the human race for failing or something like that.

Or maybe what Placebo is saying is that it’s not too late for us to wise up and reverse the trend of environmental degradation. But such an understanding still wouldn’t explain other parts of the song, such as earlier on when the vocalist appears to depict those selfsame Disneyesque animals as ultimately ‘ending up’ in our bellies.

Takeaway

So perhaps this is one of those cases where the lyricist(s) is dealing with a specific subject all right. However, in the process of penning the song, jotted down the first thing to come to mind as opposed to making the lyrics more generally understandable. 

In other words, we have to presume that Brian and perhaps diehard fans of Placebo know what he’s talking about, even if the intended point of “Try Better Next Time” may fly over the average listener’s head.

Release Date of “Try Better Next Time”

Rise Records issued this track as the third single from Placebo’s album “Never Let Me Go” on 11 January 2022. Other singles from the project include:

• “Beautiful James”
• “Surrounded by Spies”

Credits

The tune was written by the two artists who make up Placebo, that being Stefan Olsdal and Brian Molko. And they also served as producers of the song, in that regard working alongside one Adam Noble.