13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems

Reading Time: 14 min read

13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems features songs courtesy of Donna Summer, Dyllón Burnside, Florence + The Machine, Lizzo & Sam Smith.

bless you

olks, prepare to look upward 🔺, and by upward 🔺, I mean HEAVENWARD 👼! No, 🎧 13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems isn’t a preachy, music compendium – it’s secular to the n^th degree! Still, be prepared to get high and revived from the awesome musical selections that appear in this sequel to 🎧 13 Songs Associated with Heaven and/or Paradise (published in April 2019). Also, it’s a nice companion piece to 🎧 11 Gloriously, Infernal HELL Songs 😈 😉.

It’s worth noting that most of the songs on 🎧 13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems feature the word heaven in their song title. There is, however, on exception – you can thank the one-and-only 🎙 Sam Smith for that! Also, it’s worth noting that there’s a strong possibility of omissions (*cough, cough, 🎵 “Stairway to Heaven” by 🎙 Led Zeppelin). No worries – there are bound to be future, heaven-driven musical compendiums! In addition to Smith, there are songs courtesy of 🎙 Donna Summer, 🎙 Dyllón Burnside, 🎙 Florence + The Machine, and 🎙 Lizzo among others. So, get your halos ready and turn up to 🎧 13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems!

1. Dyllón Burnside, “Heaven” (Ft. Daley)

🎵 “Heaven” • 🏷 Quintette • 📅 2021

Actor and singer 🎙 Dyllón Burnside, best known for his role on the FX series Pose, drops a sweet new single, 🎵 “Heaven”. Take one listen to this soulful pop record, and you will feel as if you’ve died and gone to heaven! While Dyllón kills it in his own right, he gets a marvelous assist from British R&B singer 🎙 Daley. Together, Burnside and Daley make quite a formidable team, and more importantly, deliver an awesome single.

There’s plenty to heart about “Heaven.” Featuring a backdrop that sounds simultaneously refreshing and vintage, it’s produced by Burnside and 🎛 Phinisey. It’s groovy, rhythmic, and most of all, soulful. What’s more fitting atop that backdrop than smooth, chill vocals by Dyllón, sigh? He sings with both incredible ease and expression; his tone is gorgeous. Of course, when you throw the higher, equally expressive pipes of Daley into the mix, things only grow more awesome. When both sing together, the chemistry is remarkable – a match meant to be. Songwriting is another winning area of “Heaven.” The lyrics are sexy, but tastefully so. I love the fact that both musicians keep it incredibly classy. The centerpiece is none other than the heavenly, memorable chorus. That said, also shout out the bridge, with that magnificent upper register of Daley.

Appears in 🔻:

Awesome Songs: June 2021

2. Florence + The Machine, “Heaven is Here”

💿 Dance Fever • 🏷 Universal Music Operations Limited • 🗓 2022

🎙 Florence + The Machine suffers from a case of 💿 Dance Fever on their fifth studio album. Oh no! Maybe that’s a bummer, especially considering 🎙 Florence Welch shares about her 🎵 “Choreomania” (dancing yourself to death). While that may be disturbing, much of what Welch does is use imagery, allusions, and an assortment of references to other things to illustrate her own personal thoughts and situations. This top-notch songwriting, high-flying vocals, and generally awesome production make Dance Fever a superb Flo + The Machine LP. Flo keeps it short and sweet on 🎵 “Heaven is Here,” which clocks in at just under two minutes.

“Oh, bring your salt, bring your cigarette / Draw me a circle and I’ll protect / Heaven is here if you want it.” Woo! So, why is “Heaven is Here” so intriguing, you ask? Well, it’s the sound effects, energetic vibe, and of course, Welch’s high-flying vocals. Also, the lyrics play a sizable role too! Of “Heaven is Here,” Welch asserts on IG:

Heaven is Here was the first song I wrote in lockdown after an extended period of not being able to get to the studio. I wanted to make something monstrous. And this clamour of joy, fury and grief was the first thing that came out.

Florence + The Machine achieves the desired effect without question! “And every song I wrote became an escape rope / Tied around my neck to pull me up to Heaven.” Amen?

3. Nick Jonas, “This is Heaven”

💿 Spaceman • 🏷 Island • 🗓 2021

“At the gate / I’m coming inside, I know that it’s late / But I’m here, ‘cause your body my motivation.” Most would agree that sex is heavenly. The same could be said about love, at least when it’s ‘on.’ 🎙 Nick Jonas certainly believes in the power of both on 🎵 “This is Heaven”, the second single from his 2021 solo album, 💿 Spaceman. “This is Heaven” marks another gem penned by Jonas, 🎼✍ Greg Kurstin, and 🎼✍ Mozella. The backdrop is on-point: the keys, synths, and an absolutely infectious groove.

Jonas, again, serves up a respectable vocal performance, with his best moments arriving during the centerpiece, the chorus:

“This is Heaven

And I don’t know how this could get much better (Yeah)

Than you and me, here right now

This is Heaven

And every time I touch you, it gets better

I’m on my knees, I can’t stop now

This is Heaven.”

In the verses, Nick sings in his lower and middle register. He ascends higher on the chorus where he proclaims love to be ‘celestial,’ of course. Overall, “This is Heaven” is indeed pretty heavenly!

Appears in 🔻:

Awesome Songs: March 2021

4. BROCKHAMPTON, “Heaven Belongs to You”

💿 GINGER • 🏷 RCA • 📅 2019

🎙 BROCKHAMPTON keeps things brief – like ‘one-minute-and-a-half’ brief – on 🎵 “Heaven Belongs to You” (💿 GINGER, 2019). The record is produced by 🎛 Jabari Manwa and 🎛 Romil Hemnani (members of the sizable collective) but doesn’t feature any members of BROCKHAMPTON in a performance role. The voice heard on “Heaven Belongs to You” is a controversial rapper, 🎙 slowthai.

“Heaven Belongs to You” is compelling, even without the BROCKHAMPTON personnel on deck. It is connected with the single, “If You Pray Right” which arrives two tracks later on GINGER. As for slowthai, he reflects on God and religion, which, you can expect, isn’t incredibly Christian! He’s inspired by Tupac (“Like God can’t judge me, but only God can see / I ain’t bein’ judged, no one judgin’ me”), which is cool. That said, anytime one utters “Fuck God,” well, it’s going to raise some eyebrows (“Fuck God, I’m a dog backwards / Backwards, I don’t smoke Backwoods / What you sayin’? Why you prayin’ for forgiveness? / When you wanna get money, get them riches”).

5. Donna Summer, “Heaven Knows” (Ft. Brooklyn Dreams)

💿 On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II • 🏷 UMG Recordings Inc. • 📅 1979

“Heaven knows / It’s not the way it should be / And heaven knows / It’s not the way it could be / And don’t you know / There’s no need to leave.” Two words: 🎙 Donna Summer. How about an additional word: #ICONIC. Oh, and two more words, for good measure: 🎵 “Heaven Knows!” This hit (💿 On The Radio: Greatest Hits Volumes I & II) from one of the most legendary artists in the game peaked at no. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979. Notably, Summer got an assist from 🎙 Brooklyn Dreams.

Of course, the chorus is the centerpiece of “Heaven Knows.” It’s one of the catchiest, most memorable, and tuneful choruses you’ll ever hear. Still, there’s even more to love. The record features an electrifying disco groove and makes awesome use of percussion. Besides the percussive element, the orchestration and production (🎛 Giorgio Moroder and 🎛 Pete Bellotte) – which kicks some serious ass – stand out thanks to the exuberant strings and biting horns. I mentioned Brooklyn Dreams’ assistance earlier. It’s ultimately a nice collaborative vocal performance between Summer and Dreams’ 🎙 Joe “Bean” Esposito – a match made in HEAVEN. Still, “Heaven Knows” is most celestial because Donna Summer is the superstar without question. Rest in peace, queen!

Appears in 🔻:

Donna Summer, “Heaven Knows”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 56 (2022)

6. Yo Gotti, “H.O.E. (Heaven on Earth)”

💿 Untrapped • 🏷 Epic • 📅 2020

If I’m being honest, 🎙 Yo Gotti is predictable. You can expect a heaping dose of sex when it comes to his music. The Memphis rapper exhibits ample confidence, cockiness, and of course, horniness. His 💿 Untrapped banger, 🎵 “H.O.E. (Heaven on Earth)”, hence, is true to self. Backed by production courtesy of 🎛 Lamont Porter (EZ Elpee) and 🎛 Mark Davon, the script is familiar. The song title reveals Gotti’s cards.

“Oh, I’m rich-rich, shawty thick-thick / We fuck her friend together, that’s my bitch-bitch,” Gotti brags at the beginning of the first verse. It’s exactly what we’ve come to expect from him. He’s objectified women throughout his career, so it’s no surprise that “H.O.E.” is no different. The second verse offers more of the same, including a reference to DMs (of course): “I’m Mr. Slide-in-the-DM, flay and go and see ‘em / Work her out like a trainer, but this is not a gym…” Give him credit for admitting what HE is on the centerpiece, the chorus:

“I’m a ho, I know I’m a ho

But don’t you call me that, lil nigga, that shit come with the smoke

I’m a ho, got bitches galore

How many Instagram models I done fucked on before?”

7. Calum Scott, “Heaven”

💿 Bridges • 🏷 UMG Recordings Inc. • 📅 2022

According to pop singer 🎙 Calum Scott, heaven is occurring in his life right now. How? He’s clearly not dead, so, what’s this heaven he speaks of? Well, in the chorus, he asserts, “I’m already there, here in your eyes / We climb the gates every time that you lie down next to me.” Okay, I think I get it – it’s LOVE 😍 😍 😍! 🎵 “Heaven” appears on Scott’s 2022 album, 💿 Bridges. Scott penned the ballad with 🎼 ✍ Hayley Warner and 🎼 ✍ Nolan Sipe. 🎛 Fraser T. Smith handles the production on this gorgeous joint.

“I used to count the stars in the sky / Now I count the ones in your eyes,” Scott sings in the first verse, continuing, “I used to think that my paradise / Was somewhere waiting on the other side.” Again, clearly, Calum’s view of heaven isn’t the afterlife that’s been preached about for ages! Apparently, in the second verse, his lover “Take me higher than I’ve been / Got me questioning everything I knew, ooh-ooh / ‘Cause nothing compares to you.” Ah, love, it does sound truly heavenly 😍!

8. Lizzo, “Heaven Help Me”

💿 Cuz I Love You • 🏷 Nice Life / Atlantic • 📅 2019

“Love is a drug, methamphetamine / D-A-R-E, they’ll be hooked on me.” Woo! On the profane, gospel-pop cut 🎵 “Heaven Help Me” (💿 Cuz I Love You) love has got 🎙 Lizzo totally down. The big-voiced, 🏆 Grammy-winning pop musician asserts, “If love ain’t dead, I’ma kill it ‘cause it’s killin’ me.” Woo, JESUS!!! Worth noting that Lizzo co-wrote “Heaven Help Me” with the members of 🎼 ✍ 🎛 X Ambassadors, who also produce the track. Kudos fellas!

Throughout one of the more underrated gems from Cuz I Love You, there are plenty of colorful, memorable lines. One gem is, “If you think you got me ‘dickmatized’ / I need to get you out of my life.” Gah da-yum, Lizzo! Perhaps more notable than the dickmatize-ation is the explicit juxtaposition between salvation and sin: “Hit ‘em with the Bible, say whoa / Hit ‘em with the drive-by, say whoa.” Worth noting that there’s a cool change of pace that keeps “Heaven Help Me” interesting.

9. Tom Hulce, “Heaven’s Light”

💿 The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Original Soundtrack) • 🏷 Disney • 📅 1996

Disney animated films aren’t absolved from controversy. In 🎦 The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), the themes are considered, at times, inappropriate for children. This is by far the most mature-rated G Disney movie of the Renaissance era (should’ve been rated PG). One of the most accomplished and controversial parts of The Hunchback of Notre Dame is the song, 🎵 “Heaven’s Light / Hellfire”, penned by 🎼✍ Alan Menken and 🎼✍ Steven Schwartz. Because of the religious component, inspiration, and sometimes, source material, comes from elements of classical liturgical music. This is a song of contrasts finding Quasimodo (🎙 Tom Hulce) performing the more hopeful, major-keyed 🎵 “Heaven’s Light,” while Judge Claude Frollo (🎙 Tony Jay) performs the darker, more enigmatic, and twisted 🎵 “Hellfire.”

Given the heavenly tilt of this list, we’ll focus exclusively on Quasimodo’s “Heaven’s light.” Quasimodo’s desire for love – “heaven’s light” – tugs at the heartstrings. One thing that children and adults alike should take from it is that they don’t deserve to be bullied, persecuted, or have to settle for less just because they’re different in some regard.

“I knew I’d never know

That warm and loving glow

Though I might wish with all my might

No face as hideous as my face

Was ever meant for heaven’s light.”

Even though he’s experienced depression and had a difficult life, Quasimodo shows hope:

“I dare to dream that she

Might even care for me

And as I ring these bells tonight

My cold dark tower seems so bright

I swear it must be heaven’s light.”

Appears in 🔻:

10. Joshua Bassett, “Heaven is You”

💿 Joshua Bassett (EP) • 🏷 Warner • 📅 2021

On 🎵 “Heaven is You,” the closing ballad from 💿 Joshua Bassett (EP), 🎙 Joshua Bassett gets spiritual. Well, sort of. He asserts, “Well, lately I’ve been questioning my faith / Just one look at you is all it really takes.” Sigh, it all comes down to love, doesn’t it? Love is one of those things that rules the world, wouldn’t you agree (Maybe money comes first, though)?

“Heaven is You” is another opportunity for an up-and-coming pop start to showcase his potential. That potential is big, as long as the extra noise surrounding Bassett doesn’t get in the way. He sings comfortably and confidently without forcing things – cool energy! That’s obvious with the ease he adds melisma to the titular lyric, specifically the “you.” Notably, he co-wrote “Heaven is You” with 🎼 ✍ Sabrina Carpenter. We’ll leave that at that, but if you choose to indulge, well, check this out!

“Oh, I always heard there was a heaven
I never knew if it was true
But darling ever since I met you
I know that heaven is you
Heaven is you
Heaven is you.”

11. Gerald Levert, “Is This the Way to Heaven”

💿 In My Songs • 🏷 Atlantic • 📅 2007

I really miss 🎙 Gerald Levert. Sadly, Levert passed away at the age of 40 in 2006. He wouldn’t see his final studio album, 💿 In My Songs, be released. In My Songs was one of Levert’s finest albums of his career, filled with some stellar, grown-folks R&B gems. One of the best is the album’s closer, 🎵 “Is This the Way to Heaven”. Gerald Levert isn’t exploring mortality or the afterlife – he’s exploring S-E-X.

This slow jam is all about seduction, and Gerald is struggling to control himself. From the onset, he asserts, “I know, I know / You’re trying to save yourself, baby.” Yes, but ultimately, the temptation is too much. For what it’s worth, Gerald doesn’t seem to care, justifying, “I’m not wrong / For stopping by, for staying tonight.” Woo! It gets steamier with the “kissin’, huggin’” Levert encourages, leading to the horny chorus:

“Caught up

Can’t think, feelings so deep

Tell me, babe

Is this the way to heaven?

And you’re next to me

Wouldn’t you be strong ‘cause I’m so weak

Tell me, babe

Is this the way to heaven?”

Heavenly feelings through hellish intentions, it seems! Of course, this nameless lady, who’s been strong through some of “Is This the Way to Heaven” starts to concede to pleasure, with Levert asserting, “Maybe we should say prayer or two.” Perhaps, considering they’re about to ‘make it do.’ 🎵 “Is This the Way to Heaven” is all about sex (aka heaven in this song) and if you’re not titillated and turned on, well, something’s wrong!

Appears in 🔻:

12. Sam Smith, “Nirvana”

💿 The Thrill of It All (Drowning Shadows Edition) • 🏷 Capitol • 📅 2015

Prior to releasing their debut album, 💿 The Thrill of It All, 🎙 Sam Smith issued their 💿 Nirvana (EP). Interesting, some of the songs from the EP wouldn’t make the standard edition of his 🏆 Grammy-winning, multiplatinum debut. That includes the heavenly song at hand, “Nirvana.” “Nirvana,” written by Smith, 🎼 ✍ A. K. Paul, 🎼 ✍ Jimmy Napes, and 🎼 ✍ Craze & Hoax, eventually appeared on 💿 The Thrill of It All (Drowning Shadows Edition).

“Nirvana” embraces R&B with both its lush production and lyrical content. Essentially, Smith can’t get over a past flame, and has decided to stop running from their feelings so to speak. “It’s too late to run away from it all,” Smith sings on the pre-chorus before eventually giving in: “I’m done with running so I give it to you.” They go on to pour emotion on the cleverly penned chorus, where they believe their ‘heaven’ is too good to be true:

“This moment has caused a reaction

Resulting in a reattachment

Girl, you take me to Nirvana

I don’t think this will last

Cause you’re here in my arms.”

Worth noting, months after the release of the Nirvana EP, Smith came out as gay. Of course later, they’d come out as non-binary and genderqueer, which caused quite a stir. Returning the focus to the song at hand, “Nirvana” is a knockout punch – simply marvelous.

13. The O’Jays, “Stairway to Heaven”

💿 Family Reunion • 🏷 Sony Music Entertainment • 📅 1975

Ohio-born soul collective, 🎙 The O’Jays, comprised of 🎙 Walter Williams, Sr. and 🎙 Eddie Levert (and various other members, including the deceased 🎙 William Powell), is one of the greatest groups of all time. The hits are endless for this Philadelphia soul proponent, who famously worked with the legendary, dynamic duo of 🎼✍ 🎛 Kenneth Gamble and 🎼✍ 🎛 Leon Huff. One of the greatest fruits of their labor: 🎵 “Stairway to Heaven”.

“Stairway to Heaven” is, indeed, heavenly; north of six minutes of sheer glory. It arrives as the sixth track on The O’Jays’ platinum-certified, 1975 album, 💿 Family Reunion. The moment you hear the silky smooth, lush backdrop, you know it’s Gamble and Huff. The writing/production team sees their music continue to find new life within R&B and hip-hop. 🎙 Chrisette Michele repurposed “Stairway to Heaven” brilliantly in 2013 with her own slice of R&B heaven, 🎵 “A Couple of Forevers”. Honestly, these guys could just flat-out sing. Here, they provide a vocal bible of sorts, bringing smooth moments as well as dynamic, truly gritty moments.

“Here we go, climbing the stairway to heaven

Here we go, walking the road of ecstasy

Taking a load of the whole world off our shoulders

The door is wide open for you

The door is open for me.”

Yes! That’s before The O’Jays put ample emphasis on “Climbing the stairway to heaven / And we’re going step by step together.” Oh, the love, it’s L-I-T! “Stairway to Heaven” sounds and feels like musical salvation, if such a thing exists.

Appears in 🔻:

13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems [📷: Alex Brisbey, Atlantic, Brent Faulkner, Brett Sayles, Capitol, Disney, Epic, Island, The Musical Hype, Nice Life, Quintette, RCA, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings Inc., Universal Music Operations Limited, Warner]

13 Utterly Celestial Heaven Gems | Playlist 🎧

Published by the musical hype on July 8, 2022July 8, 2022