Heaven Is a Place on Earth

"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" is a song by American singer Belinda Carlisle from her second studio album, Heaven on Earth (1987). Written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley, the song was released as the lead single from the Heaven on Earth album on September 14, 1987, and it reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on December 5, 1987, becoming Carlisle's only US chart-topper to date. A month later it peaked at number one in the United Kingdom, where it held the top spot of the UK Singles Chart for two weeks. It is considered to be Carlisle's signature song.

For the Japanese anime movie, see Hayate the Combat Butler! Heaven Is a Place on Earth.

"Heaven Is a Place on Earth"
Single by Belinda Carlisle
from the album Heaven on Earth
B-side"We Can Change"
ReleasedSeptember 14, 1987[1]
StudioOcean Way (Hollywood)
Genre
Length
  • 4:06 (album version)
  • 3:53 (radio edit/7-inch)
  • 5:59 (The Heavenly Version/12-inch)
LabelMCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Rick Nowels
Belinda Carlisle singles chronology
"Dancing in the City"
(1987)		 "Heaven Is a Place on Earth"
(1987)		 "I Get Weak"
(1988)
Music video
"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" on YouTube

The song was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1988, but lost out to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)". In 2017, ShortList's Dave Fawbert listed the song as containing "one of the greatest key changes in music history".[4]

In 2015, Carlisle re-recorded the song as an acoustic ballad. This version appeared on her album Wilder Shores (2017), which combines acoustic tracks with world beats and traditional Sikh chants.

Composition

The song is performed in the key of E major, with a tempo of 123 beats per minute in common time. Carlisle's vocals span from E3 to D♯5. In the final chorus of the song, the key shifts up a tone to F♯ major.[5][6]

Production

Carlisle's backup vocalists on the song include songwriters Nowels and Shipley as well as Michelle Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, Chynna Phillips of Wilson Phillips, and songwriter Diane Warren. It also features Thomas Dolby on synthesizers.

Critical reception

A review in Pan-European magazine Music & Media described "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" as being "a truly uplifting song, sporting an enjoyable and irresistible chorus".[7] Jerry Smith of British magazine Music Week deemed the song a "glossy, and ultimately very commercial, number", and a potential hit.[8]

Chart performance

"Heaven Is a Place on Earth" reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Adult Contemporary chart. It was also a number-one hit in the United Kingdom, topping the UK Singles Chart for two weeks.

The single also reached number one in many other countries, among them Switzerland, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Sweden, South Africa and Norway. It also reached number three in Germany and Canada, number two in Australia, and number six in Italy. It reached gold status in Canada and platinum status in the United Kingdom.

Music video

The promotional music video for the song was directed by actress Diane Keaton and includes an appearance by Carlisle's husband Morgan Mason.[9] It features children wearing black masks and capes, and holding illuminated plastic globes. Carlisle appears wearing a strapless dress and later changes to a black off-the-shoulder blouse. The video was partially filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, California (now Santa Clarita, California), on the now-defunct Spin Out ride.

The song appears in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008),[10] Love & Other Drugs (2010),[11] and the Black Mirror episode "San Junipero" (2016),[12] and it is sung by the protagonist June Osbourne in the Handmaid’s Tale episode “Heroic” (2019).[13] The song is referenced in Lana Del Rey's 2011 debut single "Video Games".[14] The artist as well as the song are referenced in "Belinda Says", from Canadian band Alvvays' 2022 album Blue Rev.

Track listing
  1. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" – 4:06
  2. "We Can Change" – 3:45
  3. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" (The Heavenly version) – 5:59
  4. "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" (a cappella version) – 3:49

Charts

Certifications
Certifications for "Heaven Is a Place on Earth"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[55] Gold 50,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[56] Gold 45,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[57] Platinum 701,500[58]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
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  2. Smith, Troy L. (May 13, 2021). "Every No. 1 song of the 1980s ranked from worst to best". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  3. Ewing, Tom (May 10, 2010). "Belinda Carlisle - "Heaven is a Place on Earth"". Freaky Trigger. Retrieved August 2, 2022.
  4. "The 19 greatest key changes in music history". ShortList. October 1, 2017. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  5. Shipley, Ellen (September 15, 2008). "Belinda Carlisle "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" Sheet Music in A Major (transposable) - Download & Print". Musicnotes.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2017. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
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  10. Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008) - IMDb, retrieved March 18, 2022
  11. Love & Other Drugs (2010) - IMDb, retrieved March 18, 2022
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  14. Beviglia, Jim (June 12, 2020). "Behind The Song: Lana Del Rey, "Video Games"". American Songwriter. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
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