So I was trying to interpret the lyrics to a song I was listening to yesterday, and eventually realized it wasn’t that the singer thought he’d treat the object of his affections better than the guy she was with, which is what I first thought.
What songs are on that theme, though? Preferably newish stuff, but I’m not one to turn up my nose at classics, either. Thanks!
“He don’t love you like I love you,
If he did he wouldn’t break your heart…”
I’m not sure what you’re asking here. Songs where the singer says, in effect, “you can do better with me”?
Not quite that, but brilliantly done, is Lyle Lovett’s “I Married Her Just Because She Looked Like You.” The great thing is that the song makes it clear that while his wife looks like his former lover, that’s not why he married her at all.
There’s Mario Vasquez - Gallery.
http://www.completealbumlyrics.com/lyric/129822/Mario+Vasquez+-+Gallery.html
“You’re Gonna Lose That Girl” by the Beatles
“Woman in Love” by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
The classic Pussycat Dolls song “Dontcha” (wish your girlfriend was hot like me?)
Ah, one of the most beautiful songs I know of.
Reba McIntyre singing ‘‘Cathy’s Clown.’’
I want your loving more and more
I want your kisses that’s for sure
I die each time I hear the sound
They’re saying, ‘‘Here he comes, he’s Cathy’s Clown.’’
Hey there Lonely Girl – Eddie Holman
That’s how I read it --songs of someone whining about being dumped for a loser. And sooner or later the dumper will regret it.
But perhaps there’s a more romantic way of saying it.
Roll To Me by Del Amitri
.…the wrong guy, the wrong situation, it’s the
right time to roll to me
When It’s Over by Loverboy
“There’s Your Trouble” and “I Can Love You Better” by the Dixie Chicks?
Sure, it could be from the point of view of an ex, but also just someone who’s unhappy that the one they want is with someone else they don’t think is good enough for him/her (because they’re better, of course).
“If I Were Your Woman” by Gladys Knight and the Pips:
You’re like a diamond,
but she treats you like glass.
Yet you beg her to love you;
With me you don’t ask.
(lyrics from memory–there may be some slight differences)
Billy Bragg - ‘That’s the Price I Pay’
My friend said she could see no way ahead
And I was probably better off without you
She said to face up to the fact that you weren’t coming back
And she could make me happy like you used to
But I’m sorry to say I turned her away
Knowing everything she said was true…
And that’s the price I pay for loving you the way that I do
One-hit wonders Positive K did a song called “I Got a Man.” It features back-and-forth rapping between a man and woman, with the guy trying to sweet talk a woman who, indeed, has “got a man.”
Or how about the Classic where he is proving that he can do better. Conway Twitty, You’ve Never Been This Far Before. (Or maybe it is a song about deflowering a virgin)
SSG Schwartz
I spent about a year nursing a crush on a male friend. Coincidentally, that was the year Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover by Sophie B. Hawkins came out. I played it for him. :smack: Needless to say, I was rather surprised he didn’t tell me off right then. That came later. 
Today I heard a song by Relient K called My Girl’s Ex-Boyfriend, in which the singer thanks the ex for dumping the girl so that she could end up with the singer, who presumably treats her much better.
It seems like this should be an extremely common theme, but the only example I can add right now is the song Lurleen Lumpkin wrote for Homer Simpson: “You’re Wife Don’t Understand You (But I Do!)”
Ry Cooder - “Why don’t You Try Me Tonight”. That might be a cover, though.
Jim Reeves - “He’ll Have To Go”
Don’t Marry Her, by Beautiful South.
Brand New Key