"It'll Be Okay" is a song by Canadian singer

Shawn Mendes Shawn Peter Raul Mendes ( , ; born August 8, 1998) is a Canadian singer. He gained a following in 2013 when he posted song covers on the video-sharing platform Vine (software), Vine. The following year, he caught the attention of artist manage ...

. It was released through

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

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 Shawn Mendes, Lizzo, Meghan Trainor, Raye, Liam Payne, Little Mix, the Jonas Bros., and Selena Gomez, among other artists. Early life and education Sabath ...

, and Eddie Benjamin. It was produced by Mendes and Sabath and additionally produced by Benjamin and

Johan Lenox Stephen Michael Feigenbaum, known professionally as Johan Lenox, is an American singer, composer and producer. His musical style combines elements of trap music, hip hop, pop and classical music. He began gaining attention for his production for hi ...

. 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 A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

that is set in the key of

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

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 Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

at night as snow falls around him.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

– vocals, songwriting, production * Scott Harris – songwriting *

– production, songwriting, vocal production * Eddie Benjamin – additional production, songwriting, bass *

– 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

{{authority control 2021 singles 2021 songs 2020s ballads Pop 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