But only just.

[Vladv1]

When Malcolm was also forced to decline when his girlfriend (later his wife), Linda, put her foot down, complaining she hadn’t flown all the way to America from Australia to be left kicking her heels while Malcolm went off with ‘the boys’, Bon also very reluctantly turned down the offer. When, just two months later, Van Zant and five others, including Skynyrd guitarist Steve Gaines and his sister and Skynyrd backing vocalist Cassie were killed when that same plane crashed after running out of fuel en route from South Carolina to Louisiana, Bon and Malcolm felt better about their decisions. But only just. They were making new friends everywhere they went now. At their second of three showcase gigs at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles at the end of August, Bon was approached backstage after the set by Kiss leader Gene Simmons. ‘He said, “Look, we’re touring in December and we’d like you to tour with us.” And they toured to [thousands] of people a night.’

Mick Wall, "Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be".

What does "only just" mean here? I can't see the logical connection between the part before "but only just" and after. Please clarify.

 

[Tarheel]

They felt better about their decisions -- just barely.

Note that "But only just" is the relevant phrase.

 

[Vladv1]

They felt better about their decisions -- just barely.

Note that "But only just" is the relevant phrase.

So even though AC DC didn't perish in the air crash, they would have perished if the had agreed to fly with Lynyard Skynyard, AC DC only barely felt better? Sounds strange to me.

 

[Tarheel]

I was only commenting on the phrase in question.

 

[emsr2d2]

So even though AC/DC didn't perish in the air crash, and they would have perished if they had agreed to fly with Lynyard Skynyard Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC only barely felt better? That sounds strange to me.

Note my corrections above. It's important to write names exactly as they should be - there is a slash in AC/DC, and there is no "a" anywhere in Lynyrd Skynyrd.

It strikes me that they mean that Malcolm and Bon still wished they'd gone on the road (instead of staying with Linda) even though there was a chance they'd have been on the plane that crashed. They felt better about their decision to stay, but only a little better. That suggests that they, to a certain extent, regretted their original decision.

 

[Skrej]

I took it that their feeling better about not having gone (in light of the crash), was tempered by the deaths of six close associates.

What should have been a great sense of relief was offset with a kind of survivor's guilt.