Songfacts®:

• After Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, Ingrid Michaelson wrote this ballad about joyfully starting again following a tough season. "There was so much joy in my neighborhood," she told Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "Pots and pans being banged out of windows. Horns and whistles. Clapping. Singing! The collective sigh of relief resonated with me in such a way that I had to get it out musically."
• Michaelson sat at the piano and wrote most of the song there in 15 minutes. She then linked up with Sarah Aarons, who she wrote "Pretty" with, to finish the second verse. Aarons also co-penned Zedd and Maren Morris' 2018 smash hit, "The Middle."
• After Aarons sang on the demo, Michaelson realized it had to be a duet. Back in January 2020, Zayn's management had reached out to her saying the ex-One Direction singer is a big fan and would like to do something with her, so she sent his people the demo and they immediately responded, saying he wants to be her duet partner.
• Zayn recorded his vocals separately. "I've never spoken to him. We haven't communicated. I think he's a private guy. I think he does what he believes in," said Michaelson. "And he doesn't do what he doesn't believe in. The fact that he chose to sing on my song is like extremely amazing. And the fact that he chose to do that now, especially knowing what I know about him, which is he is very elusive."
  
  She added: "I love Zayn's voice, especially when he goes high, sweet, and sad. It was the perfect fit."
• Michaelson and Zayn released the sultry duet on March 17, 2021. It's a standalone single because she'd been busy working on the music and lyrics for the Broadway adaptation of The Notebook and an animated children's show. Michaelson hadn't been planning on writing a separate song, but she suddenly felt compelled to write "To Begin Again" to give people a "collective sigh of relief" after Biden's electoral triumph over Trump. "It was more than it just came out. I had to," she said.
• Sam De Jong (Alec Benjamin, Pale Waves) produced the song. The New Zealander helmed three tracks on Michaelson's 2019 album Stranger Songs.
• Speaking with Radio.com's Julia, Zayn Malik explained that as a big fan of Michaelson, he reached out to her suggesting a collaboration. The songstress responded promptly, telling him she had a tune already written "that she might need a bit of help on, with a duet." He told her, "Cool, send it over."
  
  After listening to the song, Zayn said he recognized instantly that the track "speaks volumes to the way that people are feeling and it resonated with me and that's why I wanted to be a part of it."
• Marykate Schneider directed the song's music video which follows everyday New York City people in their daily lives. "I wanted to create a love letter to my city," said Michaelson of the clip. "To celebrate the hope that is slowly coming back to the people of New York. And to remind people all over the world that we are stronger when we work and rejoice together."