Taylor Swift’s Soon You’ll Get Better is the twelfth song on her seventh studio album, titled Lover. It features the Dixie Chicks and is all about her mother Andrea’s battle with cancer.
During a YouTube livestream with fans on August 22, Swift confirmed the song’s meaning. She said the song was “really, really hard to write,” and even noted that it was a “family decision” to decide whether or not to put the song on the album. Swift went on to say that she wasn’t able to sing it live yet, due to the personal nature of the track.
She said, “We as a family decided to put this on the album…it’s something that I am so proud of.”
Soon You’ll Get Better is one of the eight songs that included Jack Antonoff in its credits. Here’s what you need to know:
Soon You’ll Get Better Lyrics: ‘I Just Pretend it Isn’t Real’
Here are the full lyrics to Soon You’ll Get Better, via Genius:
[Verse 1: Taylor Swift]
The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair
In doctor’s office lighting, I didn’t tell you I was scared
That was the first time we were there
Holy orange bottles, each night, I pray to you
Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too
And I say to you…
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Dixie Chicks]
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
You’ll get better soon
‘Cause you have to
[Verse 2: Taylor Swift]
I know delusion when I see it in the mirror
You like the nicer nurses, you make the best of a bad deal
I just pretend it isn’t real
I’ll paint the kitchen neon, I’ll brighten up the sky
I know I’ll never get it, there’s not a day that I won’t try
And I say to you…
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Dixie Chicks]
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
You’ll get better soon
‘Cause you have to
[Bridge: Taylor Swift & Dixie Chicks]
And I hate to make this all about me
But who am I supposed to talk to?
What am I supposed to do
If there’s no you?
[Pre-Chorus: Taylor Swift]
This won’t go back to normal, if it ever was
It’s been years of hoping, and I keep saying it because
‘Cause I have to
[Chorus: Taylor Swift & Dixie Chicks]
Ooh-ah
You’ll get better
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
You’ll get better soon
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
Soon, you’ll get better
Ooh-ah
You’ll get better soon
‘Cause you have to
Fans React to Soon You’ll Get Better
Fans were quick to note that the two songs Swift has written about her mother (The Best Day, and Soon You’ll Get Better) were both track twelve on their respective albums. Beyond that, there don’t appear to be many hidden clues or Easter eggs in the ballad, which is a blunt and mournful ode to Swift’s mother.
The only real Easter egg dedicated to the song has to do with the music video for ME!, where a framed photo of the Dixie Chicks was seen in the background.
One fan wrote, “Soon You’ll Get Better wrecked me. The simplicity of ‘soon you’ll get better, you’ll get better soon, cause you have to’ is sheer desperation, and I am floored.”
Multiple fans who claim to have attended the Secret Sessions said that Swift was so emotional during the playing of Soon You’ll Get Better that she had to leave the room.
One fan wrote, “‘soon you’ll get better’ just broke my heart.”
Another wrote, “soon you’ll get better is like the sad sequel to the best day it’s like when you’re young and you think how your parents are there and everything’s ok but you grow up and they get older and you realize they won’t be with you forever and it’s a crude reality and i hate it”
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