I definitely think this song was written post-1989. The writing style is most similar (but still different) from her 1989 style. I definitely wouldn’t put in Speak Now or Red era. Red is all about the details which Better Man is lacking and I’ve always seen Speak Now as Taylor’s most fairytale album. Each and every song is an open and shut story. Better Man is not like that either. Also, Taylor doesn’t like releasing old songs.
In her ten years as an artist she’s released really old songs twice and once was because the fans kept requesting it she almost had to. Those were: The Outside and Sparks Fly.
The Outside is from her first album though it was written when she was 12.
She preformed Sparks Fly a few times when she was touring for her first album as an opening act. The fans asked for it to be in Fearless but it wasn’t. They kept requesting it and she put it on Speak Now.
Better Man is definitely not about a short term relationship. This is a song is about disappointment so deep it’s almost a betrayal and you simply cannot experience that with someone you’ve only known a few short months.
Given the length of their relationship and his actions over the summer, this song is almost certainly about Calvin Harris.
He was kind of hurt when Taylor rebounded to Hiddleston (and that would hurt) and went on a twitter rant dissing her. He did the same when This Is What You Came For came out only this time he went so far as to say she “controls the media” and “he can’t really express his opinion”. He even went so far to insult Taylor’s fans, saying they “should have grown up”. And then he sided with He Who Must Not Be Named over the whole “Famous” incident.
Taylor never commented on any of this behavior. And I think Better Man is her way of finally doing that.
There really is no other option.
Also consider this, Taylor expresses herself through her music almost exclusively. She doesn’t slam people in interviews or do twitter rampages. But she’s been through a lot this past year and she’s been mostly quiet while other people have just run their mouths about her. Hopefully Taylor finds someone that encourages her success rather than be intimidated by it
