“To Begin Again” by Zayn & Ingrid Michaelson

As of early 2021, i.e. the release date of “To Begin Again”, it seems as if for many of us, thankfully, the coronavirus pandemic may be by and large a thing of the past. Or we can say it appears that for a lot of countries, including the United States, the worst in that regard may already be behind us. 

But that has not stopped musicians from dropping songs premised on the overall experience. Indeed such tunes were written primarily in 2020, while the virus was very much hot, so it stands to reason that they’d still be coming out in 2021. And such is the case, in a roundabout way, with “To Begin Again”. 

Or more specifically the lyrics are apparently reflective of the feelings the singers experienced after overcoming a harrowing, macrocosmic event, such as the aforementioned pandemic.

For example, we can notice in the first verse that there was a moment of time when the vocalists were convinced “the world was ending”. Yet throughout it all, despite feeling pessimistic, they remained close to and supportive of each other. 

And ultimately, nothing overly catastrophic actually transpired. Or as poetically put in the second pre-chorus, even though the singers may have thought it was all coming to an end, the next day “the sun came right back, and the kids played as if nothing had happened”.  So obviously they read a bit too deep into the situation.

To Begin Again

But even more importantly to the thesis sentiment at hand, it can be ascertained that going through that harrowing ordeal gave them a new, refreshed outlook on life. So instead of recommitting themselves to the same ol’ same ol’ they instead decide to “live and love” more vibrantly. 

Thus the title of this song more or less alludes to the notion of the vocalists concluding that they were blessed with a new lease on life. And in their eyes, this new life is one which they fully intend to capitalize on. And in the bridge, it is further clarified that what doing so entails is basically appreciating loved ones, i.e. “friends”, like never before.

Ingrid Michaelson and Zayn Malik

Ingrid Michaelson is a relatively-unknown (i.e. as compared to Zayn Malik) singer from New York City. She began dropping album in 2005 and between that year and 2019 came out with nine of them, making her a prolific musician.  (The third one, 2008’s “Be OK”, is actually a compilation album). 

And her most-successful full-length to date would be the sixth of those, “Lights Out”, which came out in 2014 and topped Billboard’s Independent Albums chart.

Meanwhile Zayn Malik, aka Zayn, is a more-established music superstar, even since his earlier days as part One Direction, perhaps the most-successful boy band of the early 2010s. And his popularity increased furthermore after he put it all on the line and went solo, while One Direction was still very much trending, in 2015. 

Zayn leaving the group contributed to the eventual dissolution of One Direction altogether, although the boys still managed to sell mondo records in the direct aftermath of his departure. And since then all of the other members – Niall, Liam, Harry and Louis – have also gone to launch their own solo careers, to varying degrees of success.

Is “To Begin Again” the first collaboration between Zayn and Ingrid?

Yes, it is. The whole deal actually came about after Zayn’s people reached out to Michaelson in early 2020 to inform her that Malik was one of her fans and was down to collaborate. And Ingrid knew, as stated earlier, that he is on a “different level of famedom” than she is.  So that fact made said revelation all the more shocking to her.

But this is not to imply that Ingrid and Zayn actually developed a friendship in the process or creating the song. In fact as of the release of this track, the two artists never met, nor have they ever even communicated directly.

Writing Credits for “To Begin Again”

Zayn and Ingrid wrote this song. They did so in collaboration with Sarah Aarons, a songwriter from Australia. And the producer of the track is a New Zealander (based in Los Angeles) named Sam de Jong.

Concerning the origin of this song, it is actually Ingrid who originated it and served as its main author. And what actually compelled her wasn’t a shift in the course of the coronavirus but rather Joe Biden winning the US Presidential election in late 2020.  

As Ingrid explained it, in the aftermath, there was “so much joy in (her) neighborhood”. According to her, she and her boyfriend even shed tears of happiness. 

And being inspired by such, she was able to write “most of the song right there in 15 minutes”. And as far as Sarah Aarons’ contribution, she helped Michaelson pen the second verse. Furthermore, just to note, Ingrid Michaelson is from NYC and more specifically Downtown Brooklyn.

Release Date

“To Begin With” officially came out as a standalone single on 17 March 2021.