Better Days on the Inspiration Behind Their Single "Miss Suzy"

“Miss Suzy, your beauty's like the evening sky

The way you enchant me gives me butterflies

Miss Suzy, so eloquent, I cannot deny

No, I can never, a river I will cry

Your hair so fancy, your smile as bright as day

Your eyes so lovely, I can't look away”

With these oh-so-romantic lyrics and dreamy melody, how can one not swoon? Better Days, now a dynamic duo composed of Nim Garcia and Nigel Aboy, is excited to unveil their latest single, “Miss Suzy.” Known for their enchanting melodies and easy-listening tunes, the band continues to captivate audiences with their unique sound. Better Days started playing as a four-piece band in 2022 and has played at highly anticipated musical events such as Rakrakan Festival 2023, UP Fair 2023 and Happy Plays 2022, among others. 

“Miss Suzy” delves into the themes of infatuation, yearning, and the whimsical dreams of falling in love. Nim, who penned the song, drew inspiration from his own college days, recounting a personal experience with a crush he affectionately called “Miss Suzy.”

He generously narrated the backstory about the unrequited romance behind the song. Nim narrated, “I was in college during the pandemic and medyo malungkot kasi parang one year lang ako naka-experience ng hindi lockdown na college and then the rest of the three years naka-lockdown. Kapag online class, for most of the school year, you don’t really know the people that you’re in class with. And ’yung only image mo lang sa kanila is the little box that you see sa Zoom meetings. For the most part, Miss Suzy was that—just a little box in the Zoom meeting. And I only managed to meet her in real life once. I never talked to her but just once and it was for a project na nagkataon na magkasama kami. And I guess she really caught my attention sa one meeting na iyon that I managed to make an entire song about her without even ever having a real conversation with her.” 

“I don’t think she even knows the existence of the song even nu’ng nilabas ko siya dati. Medyo scary siya ngayon kasi parang nasa big platform na siya,” he confessed.

The track is characterized by its dreamy ambiance, featuring sweet tones and soothing chords that perfectly capture the essence of longing and romance. Nim, as the songwriter, is elated with the experience of it all from writing and composing to finally releasing it for the world to hear.

“When it came to the inspiration with the poetry and the lyrics, si Miss Suzy talaga ’yun as the person. Siya ’yung main subject. But when it came to the actual music and the musicality, I didn’t really expect the song to be interpreted in a band version. I only ever saw it as like an acoustic guitar thing that I played in my room. Doon nagsimula ang song,” Nim smiled.

Nigel, on the other hand, took us through the experience of interpreting and recording the song. “My experience with it is very nice kasi I don’t think we’ve played any kind of music like this before. Itong original namin. I don’t think anything comes close to it. Not even our covers so very fresh siya for all of us na parang, ‘Hey, this is new territory.’ And we know in our hearts na sa amin galing itong tunog na ito,” he explained.

Nigel also feels fortunate that he’s able to relate to “Miss Suzy” on a personal level. “I would say that I relate a lot to the song. As much as you can just imagine and pretend, it doesn’t compare to actually having an experience close to what the song is trying to convey. So malaking bagay din na fortunate ako, pati ’yung mga kabanda namin, na gets namin kung ano ’yung tina-try i-express ng kanta. I think that’s like a good rule to think about when you’re writing anything or creating anything, na parang it should appeal to you first and affect you in some way. I think if you want to really be happy with what you make, it’s got to move you first,” the Better Days singer added.

With the resurgence of OPM band music, Better Days also looks forward to collaborating with other talented acts they look up to such as Sunkissed Lola and Janine Teñoso. But more importantly, they’re excited for what the future holds for Better Days.

“We just want to be known as the guys who enjoy playing music. Kasi there’s always running the risk of doing music for a certain group of people. In a sense, gusto namin may identity pa rin kami. Like, we want people to resonate to the music that we like to make, rather than making something that people like to hear. So in a sense, we really want to keep our personalities and kung sino kami intact even up until the end,” Nigel declared.

“We feel more locked in and surer about what we do when we're planning, writing, jamming, and performing,” the duo concluded. “With the current lineup, we're enjoying the process and growth more and more. It’s a whole lot of fun. For now, our only plan is to keep this setup and continue making music we love.”

“Miss Suzy” is now available on all major streaming platforms.