Taylor Swift's Emotional New Song Reveals the Struggle of Watching Her Parents Battle Cancer
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The Dixie Chicks have made their long-awaited return to music as featured guest vocalists on Taylor Swift's brand-new album, Lover. But unlike "Cowboy Take Me Away" or many of their other hits, this track carries a particularly emotional weight.
In "Soon You'll Get Better," the group lends their powerful voices to Taylor's deeply personal song about her mother Andrea Swift's cancer diagnosis, which Taylor revealed in an interview with Elle earlier this year.
"I’ve had to learn how to handle serious illness in my family. Both of my parents have had cancer, and my mom is now fighting her battle with it again," Taylor said.
Taylor's new lyrics allude to the difficulties her family has faced together, and the lengths she would go to offer help and healing in a situation that's out of her control.
"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, 'Ooh, soon you'll get better.'"
Though her mother has inspired her songs before, namely "The Best Day" from her Fearless album, Taylor was still uncertain if she'd include "Soon You'll Get Better" on Lover.
“That was really, really hard to write, and it was just a family decision whether to even put it on the album,” Taylor said, according to People. “We as a family decided to put this on the album, and it’s something I’m so proud of, but it’s just really hard. I can’t sing it. It’s hard to just emotionally deal with that song."
Taylor turned to the Dixie Chicks as collaborators likely because of their long friendship. Taylor, a self-proclaimed Dixie Chicks fan from an early age, even brought out lead singer Natalie Maines to perform "Goodbye Earl" at a Los Angeles tour stop in 2015.
Listen to "Soon You'll Get Better," along with the rest of Lover here.
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