Get Well Soon (song)

"Get Well Soon" (stylized in all lowercase) is a song by American singer Ariana Grande, who co-wrote the song with its producer Pharrell Williams. It is the final track on Grande's fourth studio album Sweetener (2018). It is inspired by Grande's personal anxiety and trauma following the May 2017 terrorist attack after her concert in Manchester, United Kingdom.

"Get Well Soon"
Song by Ariana Grande
from the album Sweetener
ReleasedAugust 17, 2018 (2018-08-17)
RecordedDecember 2017
StudioChalice Recording Studios (Hollywood, California)
Genre
Length5:22
LabelRepublic
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Pharrell Williams

Background

Grande first teased the song in an Instagram post on December 31, 2017.[1] Following the European leg of Dangerous Woman Tour and the terrorist attack at Manchester show, Grande revealed that she had "really wild dizzy spells, this feeling like I couldn't breathe", and that she "felt so upside down"[2] and her anxiety became physical. She shared her experience with Pharrell Williams, with whom she created the song. In a later interview for Paper, Grande said: "[Pharrell] kind of forced it out of me, because I was in a really bad place mentally. ... [Pharrell] was like, 'You have to write about it. You need to make this into music and get this shit out, and I promise it will heal you.' And it definitely helped." She also said that the song is "probably one of the most important songs [she would] ever write."[3] Grande revealed in an interview on Beats 1 Radio that she intended the song to offer a "musical hug". She further explained that "Get Well Soon" is about "being there for each other and helping each other through scary times and anxiety" and about "personal demons and anxiety and more intimate tragedies as well", stressing that mental health is very important.[4]

Recording and composition

Grande recorded "Get Well Soon" at Chalice Recording Studios in Hollywood, California.[5] Pharrell Williams and Ariana Grande co-wrote the song, and Williams produced it.[5] It is a soul and gospel ballad that runs for five minutes and twenty-two seconds.[6][7] The singer's vocals are stacked (layered); Grande intended them to represent "all the voices in [her] head talking to one another."[2] In Grande's TIME Magazine "Next Generation Leaders" interview, her vocals are described as being "interwoven in dense layers of sound, creating an otherworldly effect."[8]

At the end of the track, 40 seconds of silence are played, making the song five minutes and twenty-two seconds long. Some listeners speculate the song, and its length, are the date of the Manchester Arena bombing, which took place on May 22, 2017 (5/22).[9][10]

Critical reception

Pitchfork editor Jillian Mapes called "Get Well Soon" a "career-defining moment" and praised it as "the sort of freeform, self-help soul ballad you'd maybe expect to round out a Beyoncé opus" and wrote: "Anyone who knows how gracefully Grande handled the horrific events at her Manchester show last year will recognize an equally graceful response to her own emotional aftermath in this song."[6] The Independent's Kate Solomon described the track as ambitious and said: "As a five-minute musical interpretation of the post-traumatic panic attacks Grande has suffered, 'Get Well Soon' is not exactly enjoyable to listen to but admirable in its honesty."[11] Chris Willman described Grande's singing as florid[12] and Neil McCormick wrote that she sounded like "a one-woman doo-wop combo".[13] PAPER’s “Top 100 Songs of 2018” ranked the song at #15, commending Grande for “[doing] something she didn’t have to” by “[transforming] her pain into something digestible, like sweetener molecules settling into a bitter cup of coffee.”[14]

Live performances

Grande performed the song for the first time while on her promotional tour The Sweetener Sessions.[15] She also performed it in the special Ariana Grande at the BBC.[16] During the Sweetener World Tour, she originally omitted it from the setlist because according to her, the song was not designed to be performed in a big concert and instead just for small venues like The Sweetener Sessions. However, starting with the show in Phoenix on May 14, 2019, "Goodnight n Go" was replaced with a shortened version of "Get Well Soon".[17]

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from the liner notes of Sweetener.[5]

Recording and management

Personnel

  • Ariana Grande – songwriting, vocals, vocal production
  • Pharrell Williams – songwriting, record producer
  • Phil Tan – mixing
  • Bill Zimmermann – additional mix engineering
  • Randy Merrill – mastering
  • Mike Larson – recording, digital editing and arrangement for I Am Other Entertainment
  • Thomas Cullison – recording assistantance

Charts
Chart (2018) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[18] 79
UK Streaming (OCC)[19] 81
US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (Billboard)[20] 16

References
  1. Devoe, Noelle (January 2, 2018). "Ariana Grande Just Teased Angelic Vocals From Her First New Song in a Million Years!". Seventeen. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  2. Connor, Katie (July 11, 2018). "Ariana Grande Interview". Elle (published August 2018). Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  3. Boardman, Mickey (August 23, 2018). "In Conversation: Troye Sivan and Ariana Grande". Paper. Introduction by Justin Moran. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  4. Elizabeth, De (August 18, 2018). "Ariana Grande Opens Up About Her Song "Get Well Soon"". Teen Vogue. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  5. Sweetener (CD). Ariana Grande. Republic Records. 2018. p. 8. B0028815-02.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. Mapes, Jillian (August 21, 2018). "Ariana Grande: Sweetener Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  7. Thomas Erlewine, Stephen. "Sweetener – Ariana Grande". AllMusic. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  8. Lansky, Sam. "Ariana Grande Is Ready to Be Happy". TIME.com. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  9. Barbour, Shannon (August 17, 2018). "Fans Think Ariana Grande's New Song "Get Well Soon" Is a Tribute to the Manchester Bombing Victims". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  10. Rincón, Alessandra (August 17, 2018). "Fans Speculate Ariana Grande's Sweetener Track "Get Well Soon" Is 5:22 Long to Honor Manchester Attack". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  11. Solomon, Kate (August 17, 2018). "Ariana Grande, Sweetener review: A portrait of an artist in flux". The Independent. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  12. Willman, Chris (August 17, 2018). "Album Review: Ariana Grande's Sweetener". Variety. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  13. McCormick, Neil (August 17, 2018). "Ariana Grande, Sweetener, review: Out of the dark came sweetness". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
  14. "15. "Get Well Soon" by Ariana Grande". PAPER. December 21, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  15. "Ariana Grande Setlist at Irving Plaza, New York". setlist.fm. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  16. "Ariana Grande Setlist at BBC Langham One Studios, London". setlist.fm. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  17. "Ariana Grande Setlist at Talking Stick Resort Arena, Phoenix". setlist.fm. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  18. "Australian-charts.com – Ariana Grande – Get Well Soon". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  19. "Official Audio Streaming Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  20. "Ariana Grande Chart History (Bubbling Under Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
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