Taylor Swift sings the emotional Soon You’ll Get Better during One World: Together At Home concert

Taylor Swift wrote Soon You’ll Get Better, off her latest album Lover, about her mother’s cancer diagnosis in recent years.

But on Saturday, in her first performance of the song during the One World: Together At Home coronavirus concert, the song had added meaning to the millions of people around the globe affected by the COVID-19 crisis.

And the emotions of the moment were visible as the pop superstar appeared to briefly get misty-eyed while singing.

Swift was introduced by the event’s co-host Jimmy Fallon, who said Swift had ‘already contributed so much’ in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

She then appeared in a simple shot of her sitting behind a piano in a simple black top that was unzipped a few inches.

From the opening notes, the song’s somber but uplifting feel came through in volumes.

And the lyrics were just as poignant and touching.

‘The buttons of my coat were tangled in my hair / In doctor’s-office lighting, I didn’t tell you I was scared,’ she sang in the opening line.

‘That was the first time we were there / Holy orange bottles, each night I pray for you / Desperate people find faith, so now I pray to Jesus too / And I say to you,’ which led to the chorus that pulled at heartstrings of just about anyone with a heartbeat. 

‘Ooh-ah, soon you’ll get better / Ooh-ah, soon you’ll get better / Ooh-ah, you’ll get better soon / ‘Cause you you have to.’  

Before the coronavirus hit, Taylor admitted she didn’t know if she would ever be able to perform the highly emotional track live, saying: ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever play it live. It’s just really difficult for me. It was hard to write. It’s hard to sing. It’s hard to listen to for me. But sometimes, music is like that. Sometimes it’s not just about stuff that was pleasant to feel.’

Speaking previously about her mother’s battle with cancer, the singer told Variety: ‘Everyone loves their mom; everyone’s got an important mom.’

‘But for me, she’s really the guiding force. Almost every decision I make, I talk to her about it first. So obviously it was a really big deal to ever speak about her illness.’ 

The One World: Together At Home concert, which was hosted by late night talk show stars Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, aired on multiple networks and streaming services.

Lady Gaga helped organize the event to help raise funds for the World Health Organization and Global Citizens.