13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High

Reading Time: 12 min read

13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High features music courtesy of Coldplay, Cub Sport, Ice Spice, Jackie Wilson, and Kelly Clarkson among others.

Prepare to get HIGH. No, I’m not talking about smoking weed or taking some substance to achieve a chemical high – I’m talking about a 🎵 “Mighty High” arriving courtesy of M-U-S-I-C! 🎧 13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High is neither the first nor the last time that highness serves as the catalyst for a playlist; it’s simply the current iteration. Honestly, little explanation is necessary because the high – the keyword, in some form or fashion – speaks highly for itself! 🎧 13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High features music courtesy of 🎙 Coldplay, 🎙 Cub Sport, 🎙 Ice Spice, 🎙 Jackie Wilson, and 🎙 Kelly Clarkson (twice) among others. So, without further ado, prepare for a 🎵 “Natural High” courtesy of 🎧 13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High!

1. Ice Spice, “How High?”

💿 Like..? (Deluxe) • 🏷 Dolo Entertainment, Inc. / UMG Recordings, Inc. • 📅 2023

“Climbin’ up the ranks on your own could get rocky / But I keep it pushin’ knowin’ that they’ll never stop me.” WOO!!! Bronx rapper 🎙 Ice Spice (Isis Gaston) commences 💿 Like..? (Deluxe) with 🎵 “How High?” “How High?” is on brand with what listeners are accustomed to from the rapper. It’s brief, running just two minutes and change. Length aside, “How High?” is potent. Ice works with producer 🎛 RIOTUSA, who put in work. Here specifically, the synths are lovely and the beat bangs. As for Ice, her rhymes are confident. Her cadence and flow truly shines during the verses. The centerpiece is the chorus, which is utterly infectious: “Yeah, I know he want me, but he rather just lie (lie) / If I tell him, ‘Jump,’ he gon’ ask me, ‘How high?’ (High).” 🔥🔥🔥!

2. Cub Sport, “High For The Summer” (Ft. Shamir)

💿 Jesus At The Gay Bar • 🏷 Cub Sport • 📅 2023

“Ride for the summer / Get high for the summer.” WOO, 🎙 Cub Sport! 🎵 “High For The Summer” appears as the third track from the Australian indie-pop collective’s unapologetically titled fifth studio album, 💿 Jesus At The Gay Bar 😯. 🎙 Tim Nelson and company enlists 🎙 Shamir of for the assist. Cub Sport and Shamir on the same track? Yes please – that’s utterly sublime! The groove cooks with incredible rhythm. The production – Nelson, 🎛 Golden Vessel and Styalz Fuego – is colorful; picturesque. Likewise, the vocal production is intriguing too, with various vocal effects (reverb, pitch shift, etc.). Arguably, the timbre is what stands out the most regarding the vocals. Still, the chorus is hypnotic and that guest appearance by Shamir provides successful timbral contrast. The HIGH is legit!

3-4. Kelly Clarkson, “high road” & “favorite kind of high”

💿 chemistry • 🏷 Kelly Clarkson / Atlantic • 🗓 2023

On 🎵 “high road,” the third track from 💿 chemistry, the tenth album by 🏆 Grammy-winning pop superstar 🎙 Kelly Clarkson, her emotions are affecting her tremendously. On this powerful number, she feels the standard she tries to uphold is arduous. People look up to her, and she tries to do her best, but in reality, she experiences her fair share of flaws, hurt, and pain. The chorus is the centerpiece, where her robust pipes ring true. The bridge shines as well: “It’s just an ego and my pride / I live my life in disguise / And when I’m hurtin’, it’s incognito / So everybody thinks I’m a hero.” The transparency and vulnerability in that specific moment is awesome.

There is also another high on chemistry, via single 🎵 “favorite kind of high”. The love is lit 🔥: “So I close my eyes, kiss you how I like / I’ve been waitin’ for you.”  Clarkson is impressive in the vocal department.  She’s particularly strong once she ascends into that powerful, upper register.  The theme is simple but relatable: being so taken with someone that you’re willing to give into them without a hitch.  In the second verse, she asserts, “When you’re in the room, all I feel is you…” The best moment in this exuberant pop joint is the chorus, thanks to those feelings of L-O-V-E that dominate:    

“You’re my favorite kind of high 

Rushin’ through me like a fire 

And I need you to know 

I say I won’t, but I do 

When it comes to lovin’ you 

I don’t have no control  

You’re my favorite kind of high.”  

Ultimately, 🎵 “favorite kind of high” is another high-flying record from Clarkson.  🎛 Jesse Shatkin produced this bop.   

Appears in 🔻:

Awesome Songs: June 2023

5. Jackie Wilson, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher”

💿 Higher & Higher • 🏷 Brunswick Record Corp. • 📅 1967

“Your love, lifted me higher / Than I’ve ever, been lifted before.” 🎙 Jackie Wilson (1934 – 1984) scored a surefire hit with the infectious 🎵 “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher”. “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher” peaked at no. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Wilson the final of six top-10 hits. Electrifying from the jump, this gem appears on his 1967 album, 💿 Higher and Higher. It should come as no surprise that the section of “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher” to beat is the chorus.

“Your love (your love keeps lifting me)

Keep on lifting (love keeps lifting me)

Higher (lifting me)

Higher and higher (higher)

I said your love (your love keeps lifting me)

Keep on (love keeps lifting me)

Lifting me (lifting me)

Higher and higher (higher).”

Wilson excels in the verses too, touting how this lady made him experience love once again (“And now with my loving arms around you / Honey, I can stand up / And face the world”). This song is D-E-D-I-C-A-T-E-D to the core, focused on that perfect lady 🥰. Beyond the theme, lyrics, and epic lead vocals by Wilson (he oozes with personality and soul), the sound of the record is epic. 🎵 “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher” is idiomatic of 60s soul – the groove cooks (both drums and percussion + standard rhythm section instruments), horns, strings, and fabulous backing vocals (🎙 The Andantes). As should always be the case, rather than write anymore about this joint, let the music speak for itself!

Appears in 🔻:

Jackie Wilson, (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 114 (2023)

6. Angie Stone, “High”

💿 Love Language • 🏷 Conjunction Entertainment / SoNo Recording Group • 🗓 2023

“I couldn’t give you up if I try (If I try) / You’re so fucking fly (fly).” Angie, Angie – watch yo mouth! An exuberant Stone is on a major 🎵 “High” and doesn’t seem like she’ll be coming down anytime soon! Dropping the bomb about his fineness on the fifth track from 💿 Love Language, he has lifted her up something fierce – “I’m talking Empire State, Sears Tower” and “Higher than any bird that ever flown.” “High” is on brand with the LP, continuing to find the underrated, 🏆 Grammy-nominated R&B singer/songwriter thriving in her early 60s. “High” was penned by a team of six songwriters, some of which also produce this elevated joint.

7. JORDY, “I get high”

💿 Boy • 🏷 300 Entertainment • 🗓 2023

“I don’t wanna feel, I don’t wanna feel, I don’t wanna feel sometimes,” yet, at other times, “I just wanna feel, I just wanna feel, I just wanna feel sometimes.” Um… conflicting feelings much? Regardless, 🎙 JORDY goes on to sing, “So I, I get high.” It seems on 🤩 🎵 “I get high” (💿 BOY) that he is trying to mask the pain, hence why he gets high. Even if he’s all over the place, it’s hella relatable. There are even more scenarios in play. Out with a stranger versus being at home with someone I love. Awake versus asleep… Growing up versus being young. In all these complicated, triggering situations, he gets high to blow off steam, etc. He sings incredibly well, particularly toward the end when the record expands dynamically and instrumentally. The production (🎛 Drew Polovick) is also a selling point, giving him a fine backdrop to sing over. All in all, he delivers the goods. We all have our means of escape, right? For JORDY, it’s getting high.

Appears in 🔻:

Awesome Songs: October 2022

8. Coldplay, “Higher Power”

💿 Music of the Spheres • 🏷 Parlophone • 📅 2021

“You’ve got a higher power / Got me singing every second, dancing every hour.” On 🎵 “Higher Power” (💿 Music of the Spheres), 🎙 Coldplay ‘take us to church!’ “Higher Power,” an exuberant pop record produced by 🎛 Bill Rahko, Max Martin, and Oscar Holter, thrives off spiritual references without specifically mentioning a deity. Quite an intriguing, picturesque record as far as sound (those synths, New Wave cues) and ‘spirit,’ “Higher Power” makes the ears perk up the first time you hear it. 🎙 Chris Martin is brilliant, serving up energetic and expressive lead vocals; it’s incredibly easy to buy what he’s selling. The lyrics don’t go incredibly deep, even with the spiritual ideas. The first and second verses feature some repetition and feel more like a ‘vibe’ than something possessing immense depth. The pre-chorus sets up the centerpiece, the chorus, in all its glory. Beyond the verses and chorus, there’s the high-flying bridge celebrating the higher power, as well as an outro referencing prayer… well… maybe. “When for so long I’d been down on my knees,” Martin sings, continuing, “Then your love song saved me over and over.” Martin could be talking about God, a god, or merely someone who ‘saved him’ though not in a salvation sense. Regardless, there’s lots to love here.

Appears in 🔻:

9. Disclosure, “Higher Than Ever Before”

💿 Alchemy • 🏷 Apollo / AWAL Recordings Ltd • 📅 2023

Four words: 🎵 “Higher Than Ever Before”. That’s what 🏆 Grammy-nominated, English, electronic brother production duo, 🎙 Disclosure are. 🎙 Guy Lawrence and 🎙 Howard Lawrence cook up something special – decadent – on the third track from their 2023 album, 💿 Alchemy. Assisting with writing and producing “High Than Ever Before” is 🎼 ✍ 🎛 Cirkut. The adventurous nature of the production, particularly chopped moments, help make this a surefire, electrifying V-I-B-E.

“Higher Than Ever Before” packs a sizable punch over the course of its three-and-a-quarter minute duration. Disclosure allows ample time for the instrumental to shine, a common, idiomatic characteristic of dance and electronic music. In a genre where minimalism and repetition shine, both thrive on “Higher Than Ever Before.” The sounds are marvelous, with picturesque synths and the hyper rhythmic groove anchoring things down. The vocals don’t enter the mix until the one-minute mark, repeating the titular lyric – the chorus, of course. During the chorus, the vocals play more of a background role. Post-chorus, there is a change of pace with contrast provided by the drop just prior to the minute-and-a-half mark. The vocal mix is elevated, and the lyrics expand beyond four words, yet still maintain simplicity and the focus on the sound itself: “Higher than ever before / Right now, that’s what I want / Flying without moving on…” There’s no doubt after partaking of 🎵 “Higher Than Ever Before”, you feel lifted!

Appears in 🔻:

Disclosure, Higher Than Ever Before: Dance Gemz 🕺 💎 🎶 15 (2023)

10. ORYL, “High”

🎵 “High” • 🏷 XEN MUSIC • 🗓 2021

“Baby, you make my head go bad / I’m sorry, I’m not the type to stop,” 🎙 ORYL, self-described part-time singer/ full time sad boy sings on the relatively short but surefire vibe, 🎵 “High”. ORYL is infatuated and taken by her: “High, you make me high / So high, you make me so high.” Lyrically, “High” is simple. Regardless, a combination of moody production, led by electric piano, a slow, unhurried pace, and expressive, reverb heavy vocals make “High” special. ORYL is a sad boy, but his pain, as well as his pursuance of this love is our listening pleasure – incredibly sensual, sexy. There’s just something that screams Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 as he urges, “Put your hands on mine / And beg me to say the word / I swear we’ll take our time / Baby you make me go so…”

Appears in 🔻:

ORYL, High: Midnight Heat 🕛 🔥 31 (2023)

11. Joji, “High Hopes” (Ft. Omar Apollo)

💿 Nectar • 🏷 88rising / 12Tone Music • 🗓 2020

“She wanna know which way I’m leanin’ / Am I really made of this? Am I really made of that?” 🎵 “High Hopes” is a highlight from 💿 Nectar, the 2020 studio album by 🎙 Joji. The record pairs Joji with the talented, 🏆 Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter, 🎙 Omar Apollo. “High Hopes” is quirky but captivating. 🎛 The Donuts and Bēkon handle the production, fueling the creative fire. “High hopes / High hopes…” Joji dips into his falsetto on the chorus, while employing his middle register on the first verse (“But love is so blind when you feel it (so blind) / Can’t defeat it, hope you feelin’ good”). As for Omar, he’s true to self in the second verse – ‘alternative’ to the nth degree. There’s some hip-hop, some melody, and a heaping dose of confidence and swagger.

“I don’t think you good at keepin’ secrets

All the bags on the floor make you heated

Blind my eyes, boy too bright, he got them sequins

Man, I hope you comin’ back to cop that free shit

Back to cop that free shit, that’s elite shit.”

Appears in 🔻:

12. Bloodstone, “Natural High”

💿 Natural High • 🏷 Warner Music Group – X5 Music Group • 🗓 1972

“Why do I keep my mind on you all the time? / And I don’t even know you.” Interesting, 🎙 Charles McCormick. You can bet the answer to question sung by the late, great singer, bassist, and songwriter of 🎙 Bloodstone involves a four-letter word: LOVE. McCormick continues on 🎵 “Natural High”, a no. 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit from the collective’s 1972 LP of the same title: “Why do I feel this way think about you every day? And I don’t even know you.” Basically, McCormick, in a truly remarkable and ripe falsetto, expresses this high he’s experiencing: “And I’ll take to the sky on a natural high (I wanna take to the sky) / Loving you more till the day I die (oh, natural high).” It is worth noting that McCormick gets a sensation assist by other members vocally and instrumentally on this sweet ballad.

“Natural High” commences with an incredibly lush, warm introduction which sets the tone. After the intro, “Natural High” maintains this lushness, sounding as if it’s floating up in the sky like a cloud McCormick and Bloodstone never seem to break a sweat, singing commandingly without forcing things in the least. Furthermore, the guitars and keys are utterly celestial, serving as a gorgeous backdrop. It’s not merely those guitars and keys either, as the listener is treated to strings as well as a fantastic drum groove. Thematically, it’s all about a big time crush, with McCormick imagining the possibilities between himself and this person he’s infatuated with but doesn’t know. All told, 🎵 “Natural High” marks one of the truly elite soul classics of the 1970s. To this day, it’s easy to get a natural high from this gem!

Appears in 🔻:

13. The Mighty Clouds of Joy, “Mighty High”

💿 Kickin’ • 🏷 MTI • 📅 1975

“Come on and ride the mighty high.” Woo! Believe it or not, one upon a time, gospel met disco, and it was a successful fusion of styles. In 1975, 🎙 The Mighty Clouds of Joy released a disco-infused gospel joint – or vice versa – with 🎵 “Mighty High”. “Mighty High” served as the opener of their album, 💿 Kickin’. “Mighty High” certainly was a kickin’ single denting the pop charts – the Billboard Hot 100 – at no. 69. Gospel songs have limited success on the pop charts, so, for “Mighty High” to impact was and still is a big deal. The big reason why the song is the most successful by the collective is it’s sound, emulating the pop, R&B, soul, and disco styles that were king. Even though it is the production that is most ear catching, this song also thrives because of its message, and the simple, catchy way it is presented via songwriting.

“Take a load off your mind / Ride the mighty glory / Listen to my story / Ride the mighty high.” The mighty high, of course, is God. Those lyrics aren’t explicitly filled with depth but do speak to the power of The Most High. Later, 🎙 Joe Ligon names God specifically, singing, “God took all my troubles / Yes He did, He set me free.” Interestingly, for a gospel record, this one mostly implies God or refers to Him with a capital He, if you catch my drift. Still, the effect and lift are the same, with the legendary gospel collective aiming to bring more souls to God via a contemporary sound, one that caught on at discos and such back in the day. Of course, those who considered gospel more exclusive rather than inclusive had some criticisms for The Mighty Clouds of Joy, but all told, 🎵 “Mighty High” still provides a ‘mighty high’ to this day as one of gospel’s great crossover hits with a positive message.

Appears in 🔻:

The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Mighty High: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 44 (2023)

13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; 300 Entertainment, Apollo / AWAL Recordings Ltd, Atlantic, Brunswick Record Corp., Conjunction Entertainment / SoNo Recording Group, Cub Sport, MTI, Parlophone, UMG Recordings, Inc., Warner Music Group – X5 Music Group, XEN Music; Mantas Hesthaven, Sassu anas, Tobias Bjørkli from Pexels]

13 Songs That Ride A Mighty High | Playlist 🎧

Published by the musical hype on August 14, 2023August 14, 2023