By Kristen Hawley | 24 March, 2023
Alexa Cappelli has quickly become one of my favorite girlies in the pop space. I don’t know if it’s because both of us were born in 1999 or her infusion of pop and edge into her songs, but Alexa’s lyrics strike a chord with each release. Her lyrics don’t feel like they're coming from a girl who lives in a superstar world, but rather from a childhood best friend during a late night gossiping session. Her sound and artistry is fun and vibrant, but above all else it’s relatable.
Now she’s back with her latest single, “Someone Better” and oh my god - Alexa continues to push her songwriting and expose more of her heart to the world. And us as listeners benefit greatly.
“Someone Better” is a guitar based ballad that lets Alexa’s impactful vocal range soar while also demanding attention to the heartache in her voice and the pain-filled lyrics. It’s not a typical break-up letter turned break-up ballad. “Someone Better” is something different; it’s not anger filled or revenge seeking. It’s despairing down to its core because the song describes the ending of a relationship that had no malice or spite in it.
Alexa ends the chorus with a soulful delivery:“I could never dream of someone better than you, just someone better for me.” Her quiet emotional admission poses an interesting concept that not a lot of break-up songs attempt to explore: what happens when you need to end things even though nothing hurtful happened? What happens when there was no direct event that caused the friction?
It’s easy to understand someone ending a relationship when the other person causes harm. Whether it’s cheating, controlling behavior, or verbal beratement, there’s usually a universally understood reason to leave. But what if the person you’re with is a good person, a great partner even, but they’re just not perfect for you?
With lines like “It’s not like you yelled at me/ Or said something terribly wrong” and “I wish that this was simple/ It’s more like pulling teeth though.” you can feel the agony in Alexa’s voice.
This is where I applaud Alexa’s songwriting because not only does she beautifully paint the picture of how horrible this feeling is and how taxing ending a good relationship is; but she’s also bearing a part of herself that many people might not connect with or understand. Unless you have been in this particular circumstance, you’ll be scratching your head trying to grasp the idea of leaving a person that checks every box. But, “Someone Better” isn’t written for masses, it’s for the select few who have been faced with a heartache that everyone is telling them shouldn’t be there.
Throughout the song, you can hear that Alexa’s heart and head are at odds. Her head is listing all the reasons that person is the perfect partner and the nonexistent list of reasons to leave. While her heart is screaming this isn’t right. It doesn’t feel like the perfect fit. As if her heart and mind are across the table from one another and her heart is throwing her hands up saying, “I know this feeling isn’t logical, but it’s how I feel.”
Listen, break-ups are hard. But, it’s an easier pill to swallow when you feel you have just cause for ending things. There’s some emotion, like anger, disappointment, or betrayal, that is hurling you towards that decision. “Someone Better” shatters that notion. It explores how painful it is to be with someone who's amazing to you, but just not amazing for you.
