Songfacts®:

• Shortly after releasing their "Señorita" duet, Shawn Mendes began dating Camila Cabello in July 2019. The two pop stars carried out their relationship in the public eye with both artists releasing music about their romance. Mendes sang about their early days of getting intimate with each other in "Teach Me How To Love," and crooned about spending quality time with his girlfriend during lockdown in "Summer of Love." Cabello sang about her frustration at spending too much time away from her beau in "Don't Go Yet."
  
  In November 2021, Cabello and Mendes announced their breakup via Instagram. A fortnight to the day later, Mendes released "It'll Be Okay" about their high-profile split.
• Mendes sets the song during the last embers of his and Cabello's romance. He wonders whether they can salvage their relationship.
  
  Are we gonna make it?
  Is this gonna hurt?
  Oh, we can try to sedate it
  But that never works
  
  After two-and-a-half years together, he tries to picture what life would be like without his sweetheart.
  
  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
  
  Mendes recognizes time is a great healer, and both he and Cabello will move on from their broken romance.
• During the chorus, Mendes acknowledges it's probably for the best they go their separate ways. But even if they do split up, he will still love Camila.
  
  We don't have to fix it, we don't have to stay
  I will love you either way
  Ooh-ooh, it'll be oh, be okay
  
  When Mendes and Cabello announced their breakup, they assured their fans their love for each other remains stronger than ever. "We started our relationship as best friends and will continue to be best friends," they wrote.
• Mendes wrote "It'll Be Okay" with:
  
  His go-to writing partner Scott Harris ("There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back," "Treat You Better," "In My Blood").
  
  Los Angeles pop songwriter and producer Mike Sabath. Though he hadn't worked with Mendes before, he did co-write Cabello's 2021 single "Don't Go Yet" with Harris.
  
  Australian singer-songwriter Eddie Benjamin, who has also worked with Meghan Trainor and Madison Beer.
• Mendes, Sabath and Harris co-produced the piano-backed song along with its string arranger, Johan Lenox.
• Director Jay Martin ("Stitches," "Mercy," "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back") filmed the video in Mendes' hometown of Toronto. We see the singer grapple with heartbreak as he walks down the snow-covered streets of his native city.