A New Song in 'This Is Us' Brought Us All to Tears — Here's What It All Means

Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for Season 6, Episode 13 of This Is Us.

The final season of This Is Us is somehow more emotional than we could have ever expected or imagined. The Pearson family has come so far in the iconic series’s six seasons, and now, we can see it all come to fruition during Kate’s second wedding. She’s finally moved forward from her 2017 marriage to Toby to her 2026 wedding to co-worker Phillip.

While Kate’s wedding is gorgeous, Randall is a senator, and Kevin’s company is going well, matriarch Rebecca (Mandy Moore)’s Alzheimer’s disease has progressed. Even still, she’s able to pull it together to sing a song in Season 6, Episode 13 of This Is Us called “Forever Now.” The song is so beautiful that everyone wants to know the lyrics and their meaning.

Although she’s not totally present during the ceremony, Rebecca comes into her own to sing “Forever Now.” During the ceremony, she kept seeing a 1970s-era Jack whenever she looked at Kevin, and she even told him to not worry about Kevin and Sophie’s newlywed problems as if he was actually Jack. Miguel also seems to be struggling in 2026.

He’s become Rebecca’s full-time caretaker and is on heart meds. But amidst all of that, Rebecca still has the chops to sing “Forever Now,” which isn’t unheard of in Alzheimer’s patients. Music is a known treatment and stress-reliever for those living with Alzheimer’s, so there’s something tragically poignant and optimistic about her rendition. Plus, we know that Mandy Moore began her career as a singer, so we’ve been waiting for some more Rebecca musical magic.

The lyrics begin, “They say time will tell but I think your life’s to keep secret, so we’ll wait and see, but it’s just as well the years can be counted in seconds. That’s fine with me.” In many ways, this references how the series is also coming to an end — and the years have literally gone by in seconds, hours, and minutes when time jumped forward.

“‘Cause I get this moment with you forever now,” the lyrics continue. “It all hits me at once forever now. If there’s a right way to say it, I’m still learning how. Maybe all that we have is forever now.” Again, this lyric has a double meaning. While of course, Rebecca is singing about the power of living in the moment, this is also for us watching at home, who will only have the memory of This Is Us left soon enough.

The final lyrics of the song are just as meaningful. The line, “I’ve been looking for words for feelings that shouldn’t get spoken,” is also a nod to the fact that music is often more powerful than words. The song continues, “It’s something that’s true. I’m starting to learn that silences shouldn’t be broken — just listened to.” In This Is Us, listening to the silences is a major lesson for many of the characters as they learn to connect with one another on new levels.

The final chorus reiterates, “I get this moment with you forever now. It all hits me at once forever now if there’s a right way to say it, I’m still learning how. All that we have is the forever now.” And if we’re not in tears by the final notes of the song, well then, we’re doing something wrong because Rebecca says it all.

New episodes of This Is Us air on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.