...Well, Better Than the Alternative

In 2016, Will Wood was inspired by an emotional connection to the Netflix series Stranger Things to write a song about it, focusing on British actress Millie Bobby Brown's portrayal of Eleven in the series.{{cite web |last=Nelson|first=Joshua|url=https://bleedingcool.com/pop-culture/review-will-woods-the-normal-album-anything-but-and-better/|title=Review: Will Wood's "The Normal Album" – Anything But, And Better|website=Bleeding Cool|language=en|date=July 12, 2020|accessdate=August 21, 2024}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLV0wb1-_80 |title=The Will Wood Interview |date=2018-11-17 |last=Winter Street Media |access-date=2024-10-13 |via=YouTube}} He began performing it in early 2017 as "Still Pretty (Millie Rolls a 7)".{{cite AV media |people=Coffee Haus Studios|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pUS6kecLdI|title=Will Wood and The Tapeworms - ...Well, Better than the Alternative|medium=YouTube video|publisher=Green Bean Films|language=en|date=January 24, 2017|accessdate=August 21, 2024}} Shortly after his second studio album, Self-ish (2016), Wood would often jokingly refer to a fictional daughter named Millie, as part of a tendency at the time to fictionalize his life to an implausible extent.{{cite web |last=Makin |first=Bob |date=October 16, 2016 |title=Makin Waves with Will Wood & the Tapeworms |url=https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/how-we-live/2016/10/16/makin-waves-wood-tapeworms/91869608/ |accessdate=August 21, 2024 |website=My Central Jersey |language=en}} He later revealed he was making a reference to Brown.

Once Wood began writing and producing material for his third studio album, The Normal Album (2020), he considered the song the easiest to produce for having demos made long in advance.{{cite web |last=Nelson|first=Joshua|url=https://bleedingcool.com/pop-culture/interview-will-wood-on-his-new-documentary-what-did-i-do/|title=Interview: Will Wood, On His New Documentary, "What Did I Do?"|website=Bleeding Cool|language=en|date=April 1, 2021|accessdate=August 21, 2024}} Wood then renamed the song as "...Well, Better Than the Alternative", stating its relevance to the song's meaning and that he preferred it over its former title.{{cite web |last=Shumaker|first=Shannon|url=https://preludepress.com/interviews/2020/06/23/will-wood-interview/|title=Will Wood Reinvents Himself on "The Normal Album": "There Was Nothing That Couldn't Be New"|website=Prelude Press|language=en|date=June 23, 2020|accessdate=August 21, 2024}} It was revealed as the fifth song on the tracklist for The Normal Album in May 2020.{{cite web |last=New Jersey Stage|url=https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?titlelink=will-wood-to-release-the-normal-album|title=Will Wood To Release "The Normal Album"|website=New Jersey Stage|language=en|date=May 28, 2020|accessdate=August 21, 2024}}

"...Well, Better Than the Alternative" is an upbeat song, with avant-pop piano melodies juxtaposing the track's lyrics. Its instrumentation builds throughout, climaxing during the final chorus with Addison Herron-Wheeler of New Noise Magazine describing it as "Wood's vocal performance tak[ing] on an anguished energy".{{cite web |last=Herron-Wheeler|first=Addison|url=https://newnoisemagazine.com/video-premiere-will-wood-well-better-than-the-alternative/|title=Video Premiere: Will Wood - '... well, better than the alternative'|website=New Noise Magazine|language=en|date=June 25, 2020|accessdate=August 21, 2024}} It was produced by Jonathon Maisto,{{cite web |last=New Jersey Stage|url=https://www.newjerseystage.com/articles/getarticle.php?titlelink=will-wood-releases-music-video-for-well-better-than-the-alternative|title=Will Wood Releases Music Video For "... well, better than the alternative"|website=New Jersey Stage|language=en|date=July 1, 2020|accessdate=August 21, 2024}} with Wood noting its tonal difference from his other work. The song's meaning is intentionally ambiguous; some lyrics act as "conceptual red herrings" to obstruct Wood's intention, making fan interpretations varied.{{cite web |last=Nelson|first=Joshua|url=https://bleedingcool.com/pop-culture/even-more-normal-interview-questions-with-musician-will-wood/|title=Even More "Normal" Interview Questions With Musician Will Wood|website=Bleeding Cool|language=en|date=July 5, 2020|accessdate=August 21, 2024}}

A music video for "...Well, Better Than the Alternative" was released alongside the single on June 26, 2020. The video begins with footage of Wood playing a video game, later transitioning into a painted rendition of the same shot with a shadowed figure behind him. Throughout the song, Wood and the figure are depicted in various actions and poses with paintings overlaying them as a filter-esque animation. During the bridge, Wood offers a game controller to the figure, which results in the two interacting together for the rest of the song.

The video was created by Will Wood and Chris Dunne in collaboration with Sorin Michaels, a subscriber of Wood's Patreon. The latter frequently shared fan-made animations of previous Will Wood and the Tapeworms music videos with the Patreon community, which led to Wood hiring Michaels to revolve a new video around the animation style. Dunne, who previously co-created The Real Will Wood (2020), filmed scenes of Wood in his unfurnished home for the video, which had key frames painted over by Wood and Michaels. The latter used EBsynth to apply the handmade paintings to live action footage of Wood, making it appear animated. Wood edited the animated footage together, finalizing the video for "...Well, Better Than the Alternative".

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• Will Wood – lead vocals, piano, ukulele, backing vocals
• Jonathon Maisto – production, recording engineer, mixing, mastering
• Matt Berger – alto saxophone
• Vater Boris – bass guitar
• Mike Bottiglieri – guitar
• Mario Conte – drums
• Victoria Goettel – viola

{{div col end}}

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