Heaven

### Single(s)

Heaven, released on January 31, 2013Soothe My Soul, released on May 6, 2013Should Be Higher, released on October 11, 2013

### Next Track

Secret To The End

**Heaven** is a song by English electronic music band Depeche Mode, released as the lead single from their thirteenth studio album, *Delta Machine* (2013). Written by Martin Gore and produced by Ben Hillier, the song was world-premiered on KROQ's morning show *Kevin and Bean* on January 30, 2013. The single was released digitally in most territories on January 31, 2013, and physically on February 1.

In the United Kingdom, "Heaven" was released digitally on March 17, 2013 and physically the following day. The B-side All That's Mine was written by Dave Gahan and Kurt Uenala. An accompanying music video for Heaven was directed by Timothy Saccenti and premiered on VEVO on February 1, 2013.

In June 2013, the single was certified gold by the Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI), denoting downloads exceeding 15,000 units in Italy. In the U.K., by contrast, the single reached #60, the first initial single from a Depeche Mode album to fail to reach the U.K. Top 40.

This blues-infused song is about personal transformation to an impersonal state.

Depeche Mode state in the Heaven EPK and the Delta Machine EPK:

Dave Gahan: *"Of all the incredible songs that Martin has written over the years that I have been lucky enough to sing and perform, once in a while a song comes along - hopefully I'll write one of those myself one day - that's something I have to sing. It's something I want to sing. It feels like I'm putting on a pair of boots that I've worn for years, that I love. It fits. As soon as I heard that song he had played me the demo, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. There's no other song like it on the record. That was one song from this record that I knew that this was gonna be the linchpin to this session. Everything has got to be as good as this. To me, 'Heaven' is one of the reasons why I still make music."*

Andy: *"'Heaven' is interesting, because Martin really cracked it with this 'Heaven'. Pretty much, apart from Dave's voice instead of Martin's voice, the actual finished song is pretty similar [to the demo]."*

Martin: *"'Heaven' was written on a piano. I had all the chords and everything all worked out on the piano and the whole vocal melody and the lyrics worked out before I went anywhere near a computer."*

According to Songfacts, Dave Gahan also gave some details to KROQ presenters Kevin & Bean about the choice of the tune: *Being an electronic band, primarily, you can really experiment a lot and the songs take on different arrangements, tempos, feels, before we find something. The song we found to drive this record was the single ‘Heaven’. It was like a shot in the arm. I was like, "Ahh, I can’t wait to sing that song".*

## Music video

The music video for "Heaven" was directed by Timothy Saccenti and filmed in November 2012 at the Marigny Opera House, a former Catholic church in New Orleans's Faubourg Marigny. Previously, Saccenti had directed the "In-Studio Collage 2012" video for Angel that premiered at the band's press conference in Paris on October 23, 2012.

The video's look was inspired by Terrence Malick's 2011 film *The Tree of Life*, with its beautiful yet twisted, dark imagery. "Mainly it's a performance video, which we haven't done in a long time", Gahan stated. The video debuted on VEVO on February 1, 2013.

## Lyrics

Sometimes I slide away

Silently

I slowly lose myself

Over and over

Take comfort in my skin

Endlessly

Surrender to my will

Forever and ever

I dissolve in trust

I will sing with joy

I will end up dust

I'm in heaven

I stand in golden rays

Radiantly

I burn a fire of love

Over and over

Reflecting endless light

Relentlessly

I have embraced the flame

Forever and ever

I will scream The Word

Jump into the void

I will guide the herd

Up to heaven

## Bibliography

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven\_(Depeche\_Mode\_song)
* https://dmlive.wiki/wiki/Heaven
* https://genius.com/Depeche-mode-heaven-lyrics