"It'll Be Okay" is a song by Canadian singer
Shawn Mendes. It was released through
Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
as a single on December 1, 2021. The song was written by Mendes,
Scott Harris,
Mike Sabath
Mike Sabath is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with Lizzo, Meghan Trainor, Raye, Liam Payne, Little Mix, the Jonas Bros. and Selena Gomez, among other artists.
Early life and education
Sabath was born and rai ...
, and Eddie Benjamin. It was produced by Mendes and
Sabath and additionally produced by Benjamin and
Johan Lenox. Mendes first announced "It'll Be Okay" alongside the single's cover art and a snippet on November 30, 2021, setting its release date for the following day at 7:00 P.M.
EST. A lyric video was released alongside the song.
Composition and lyrics
"It'll Be Okay" is a piano-heavy
ballad that is set in the key of
G major and has a tempo of 76–80 beats per minute. The song lyrically sees Mendes discuss a breakup. He starts off the song "over swelling, organ-like synths", singing: "Are we gonna make it? / Is this gonna hurt? / Oh, we can try to sedate it / But that never works, yeah". In the pre-chorus, Mendes expresses that he cannot live without his significant other after the split, which therefore has him assuring himself that it will all be alright soon: "I start to imagine a world where we don't collide / It's making me sick, but we'll heal and the sun will rise". In the chorus, he emotionally vents about his feelings from the breakup: "If you tell me you're leaving, I'll make it easy / It'll be okay / If we can't stop the bleeding, we don't have to fix it / We don't have to stay / I will love you either way (Ooh-ooh) / It'll be o–, be okay (Ooh-ooh)". Further on, in the second verse, he sings about what went to waste after the relationship ended: "Oh, the future we dreamed of / Is fading to black, oh / And, oh, there's nothing more painful".
Music video
The music video depicts Mendes walking through the streets of
Toronto at night as snow falls around him.
Credits and personnel
Credits adapted from
Tidal.
*
Shawn Mendes – vocals, songwriting, production
*
Scott Harris – songwriting
*
Mike Sabath
Mike Sabath is an American record producer, songwriter, and musician. He has worked with Lizzo, Meghan Trainor, Raye, Liam Payne, Little Mix, the Jonas Bros. and Selena Gomez, among other artists.
Early life and education
Sabath was born and rai ...
– production, songwriting, vocal production
* Eddie Benjamin – additional production, songwriting, bass
*
Johan Lenox – additional production, string arrangement
* Isaiah Gage – cello
* Marta Honer – viola
* Bianca McClure – violin
* Camille Miller – violin
* Sam Kauffman-Skloff – drums
* George Seara – mixing, studio personnel
* Mike Gnocato – mixing assistance, studio personnel
* Greg Calbi – mastering, studio personnel
* Alex Pyle – recording, studio personnel
* Alisse Laymac – recording, studio personnel
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
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2021 singles
2021 songs
2020s ballads
Island Records singles
Shawn Mendes songs
Songs written by Shawn Mendes
Songs written by Scott Harris (songwriter)
Songs written by Mike Sabath
Songs about parting