Introduction
Healing in a Song: Willie Nelson’s Tender Reminder That Grief Is “Something You Get Through”
Few artists in American music history have worn time as gracefully — or as openly — as Willie Nelson. With each passing decade, his voice grows a little more weathered, his delivery a little more deliberate, and his music ever more profound. At 92, the red-headed stranger has not only endured, he has continued to evolve, offering wisdom forged through a lifetime of joy, loss, and reflection. And in his 2018 ballad, “Something You Get Through,” Nelson offers a quiet masterpiece that speaks directly to the heart of human resilience.
The song, featured on his album Last Man Standing, is a meditation on grief — not the explosive grief of fresh tragedy, but the kind that lingers, the kind that settles into the corners of everyday life. Delivered in Nelson’s unmistakable, tremble-warm voice, the lyrics unfold gently: “It’s not something you get over / But it’s something you get through.” There’s no false comfort here, no quick remedy. Just honesty. And that’s exactly what makes it so comforting.
At a time when many artists chase reinvention, Nelson leans into authenticity. The stripped-down arrangement — sparse piano, soft steel guitar, and tender strings — leaves space for each word to breathe. It’s music that doesn’t rush, mirroring the slow, uneven process of healing after loss. It’s especially moving when you consider that Nelson recorded this song in his mid-eighties, an age when grief is no longer theoretical, but lived experience.
Willie Nelson – Something You Get Through is a song for anyone who has lost someone — which is, ultimately, all of us. It doesn’t preach or promise. Instead, it gently extends a hand, reminding us that pain may never fully leave, but neither are we alone in carrying it.
Willie Nelson – Something You Get Through is more than a song; it’s a quiet companion for the hardest moments of life. And from a man who has given us so many songs about love, freedom, and faith, this may be one of his most enduring gifts.