Behind the Songs: Heaven

A selection of quotes from The Psychedelic Furs on the song "Heaven".

John Ashton: "Most of the [songs on Mirror Moves] aren't love songs at all. 'Heaven' is about nuclear war, 'Here Come Cowboys' and 'Highwire Days' are political, 'Heartbeat' is about life in the city, specifically about some people we know." (The Morning Call 1984)

Richard Butler: "'Heaven' has quite a serious subject: nuclear war — though I choose to talk about it in a general way. That's the way I write. Instead of saying there's an aeroplane in the sky, I say 'There's a hole in the sky where the sun don't shine.'" (No. 1 1984)

Richard Butler: "The words are like clues to what it's really about, which is nuclear war, but you need to think about them to realize that." (Smash Hits 1984)

Richard Butler: "I like songs to sound optimistic, but I can never actually sing an optimistic song. Even 'Heaven' is packed with depressing images." (Melody Maker 1987)

Richard Butler: "'Heaven's' a strange song because we were working in the studio I remember, it was at Saturday night and we were going to kick it in the head for Sunday and Keith Forsey said, 'We really need a new song.' We were working on these other songs that were getting [inaudible]. And I said, 'Well look, I'll come in tomorrow with Tim [Butler] and we'll try to write a song.' And so, I went in and Tim had this idea for the bass rundown, which is a straight kind of rundown. And he started playing that and I was sitting at the keyboard and I started playing the keyboard part for it. I had some lyrics that I had been saving for another song – or writing for another song – and they just happened to fit. So I went in the studio and started singing 'em to the tape we just made for the other stuff and it fit together perfectly. It was written in about two and a half hours and that was it." (Interchords 1988)

Richard Butler: "I don't think I have a happy voice and uplifting songs like 'Heaven' aren't the type of song I feel we do best. It's a good song, but a little too poppy to be one of my personal favorites." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler: "It was really funny the way that worked out. We were a song short for the album Mirror Moves. The lyric was originally written for 'Heartbeat', but seemed to fit 'Heaven' much better. I was really surprised it was a hit." (Melody Maker 1988)

Richard Butler (on artists covering The Psychedelic Furs' songs): "It's not just Live and Counting Crows. Elvis Costello did a version of 'Pretty In Pink,' and Annie Lennox did a version of 'Heaven.'" (Billboard 1997)

Tim Butler: "Written one morning in the studio by Richard and I, before the others arrived. Originally recorded, as was the rest of [Mirror Moves], using a drum machine, the drums were later replaced by Tommy Price. The song was pretty much finished in a day. One of the coolest things about this song is the pairing of serious lyrics with a very 'poppy' tune." (Should God Forget liner notes, 1997)

John Ashton (on being asked about his personal favorite PFurs songs and which song he enjoys playing live): "'Dumb Waiters' for its sheer full on attack. 'All Of This And Nothing', 'India', 'Pretty In Pink', 'President Gas', 'Heaven', and 'Highwire Days', for pretty much the same reason." (Modern Guitars Magazine 2005)

Richard Butler: "'Heaven' was written in the studio. It took a day to write that." (Metro Times 2010)

Tim Butler: "The lyrics to 'Heaven' are pretty heavy lyrics and they're not about anything spiritual. It's about planes flying over ready to drop bombs, nuclear bombs. 'And I'm standing on ice when I say that I don't hear planes.' It's sort of strange that people would dance to it and stuff with a happy vibe, when it's quite a heavy song." (Songfacts 2013)

Tim Butler (on his three favorite songs "Heaven", "President Gas", and "Only You And I"): "They are constructed the best and all the parts of the instrumentation is perfect for those songs. They're some of the best-realized songs in our catalogue." (Songfacts 2013)

Tim Butler: "The two songs that get the most reaction live are actually 'The Ghost In You' and 'Heaven.' I don't know what makes those songs get more of a reaction. I would have thought 'Heartbreak Beat' would because that's our biggest single, but it doesn't. I don't know how these things work." (Cleveland Scene 2014)

Richard Butler: "I've always been fairly melancholic I suppose. Along the way, I guess there have been certain songs that were celebratory, like 'Love My Way' and 'Heaven'." (Hot Press 2020)

Richard Butler: "I recall we had a big disagreement with the American record company, because 'Heaven' was in the Top 10 in Canada and the video was everywhere, but then America decided, for some bizarre reason, to release 'Here Come Cowboys' instead. Which failed. I'll never understand their rationale behind that." (Record Collector 2020)

Richard Butler: "For some reason, when writing, I always seem to tend towards the melancholic. And sometimes, also, anger. There have been very few 'celebratory' songs... I suppose perhaps 'Love My Way,' possibly 'Heaven.'" (Record Collector 2020)

Tim Butler: "We have always been a pretty dark band, except for a few things. There's 'Heaven', but even the song 'Heaven' has got dark lyrics. On the outside, it's a dance tune, but the lyrics are about looking out your window and seeing bombers flying over. It's a pretty dark visual there." (Tower Records 2020)

Tim Butler (on why he enjoys playing "Heaven" at concerts): "Because it's a song that gets people dancing – but it's about planes going over dropping bombs. The music and the lyrics, you wouldn't expect [them] together." (The Aquarian 2022)

Tim Butler: "The songs we can't get out of not playing are 'Love My Way,' 'Ghost In You,' 'Heaven,' and 'Heartbreak Beat.' Those are the ones that, if you take out of the set, you'll get lynched." (Nuvo 2023)