If Heaven

"If Heaven" is a song written by Gretchen Peters, and recorded by American country music singer Andy Griggs. It was released in October 2004 as the second single from his album This I Gotta See. Griggs' eleventh single on the Billboard country singles charts, it is also the final Top 40 country hit of his career, peaking at number 5 in mid-2005.

Content

Written by Gretchen Peters, "If Heaven" is a ballad in which the narrator offers up possible images of heaven, each based on an idealized moment of everyday life, such as "If heaven was an hour, it would be twilight". In the chorus, he sings, "If that's what heaven's made of / You know, I ain't afraid to die."

Griggs said that he was emotionally moved by the song, which made him recall his father and brother, both of whom died during Griggs' childhood. His mother has asked him to perform the song for him, and refers to it as "the song."

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it "one of those beautiful, understated ballads that will have listeners heaving a thoughtful sigh." She goes on to say that Griggs' "warm, muscular baritone gently breathes life into each line, evoking emotions both sad and hopeful."

Heaven

Heaven, the heavens or seven heavens, is a common religious, cosmological, or transcendent place where heavenly beings such as gods, angels, jinn, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or to live. According to the beliefs of some religions, heavenly beings can descend to earth or incarnate, and earthly beings can ascend to Heaven in the afterlife, or in exceptional cases enter Heaven alive.

Heaven is often described as a "higher place", the holiest place, a Paradise, in contrast to Hell or the Underworld or the "low places", and universally or conditionally accessible by earthly beings according to various standards of divinity, goodness, piety, faith, or other virtues or right beliefs or simply the will of God. Some believe in the possibility of a Heaven on Earth in a World to Come.

Another belief is in an axis mundi or world tree which connects the heavens, the terrestrial world, and the underworld. In Indian religions, Heaven is considered as Svarga loka, and the soul is again subjected to rebirth in different living forms according to its karma. This cycle can be broken after a soul achieves Moksha or Nirvana. Any place of existence, either of humans, souls or deities, outside the tangible world (Heaven, Hell, or other) is referred to as otherworld.

In Heaven

"In Heaven" is a song originally part of the soundtrack to the David Lynch film Eraserhead, where it is sung by the Lady in the Radiator (Laurel Near). The song was written and performed for the film by Peter Ivers, and was included on the soundtrack album.

Covers

The song was sung by fans of English psychobilly band The Meteors at the start of their 1981 debut album The Case of The Meteors in Heaven on Lost Soul Records.

It was covered by The Pixies as part of the recording session for their initial demo tape; this version was released in 2002 on the Pixies EP. The band re-recorded the track for a session for John Peel's BBC radio show in May 1988, which was later released on the Pixies at the BBC album. The song was a regular part of the Pixies' setlist, and a live version by the band appeared as a B-side of the "Gigantic" single, and was also included on The Complete B-Sides album. A version of the song was recorded by the Joe Harvard Band for the Pixies tribute album Dig for Fire, although it was omitted from the final album track listing.

Andy Griggs

Andrew Tyler "Andy" Griggs (born August 13, 1973, in West Monroe, Louisiana) is an American country music artist. He has released three albums for RCA Records Nashville (You Won't Ever Be Lonely, Freedom, and This I Gotta See) and a fourth (The Good Life) for Montage Music Group. These four albums have accounted for 13 singles on the Billboard country charts, of which the highest are "You Won't Ever Be Lonely" and "She's More", both which peaked at number 2. He also charted "Grow Young With You," a cut from the soundtrack to the film Where the Heart Is.

Biography

Andrew Tyler Griggs was born August 13, 1973, in West Monroe, Louisiana. His father, Darrell, died when Griggs was 10, and brother Mason served as the family's father figure until he died of a heart attack at age 22.

Andy Griggs attended River Oaks High School. He briefly attended Northeast Louisiana University before returning to his hometown in the early 1990s, where he found work as a minister and began a family with his wife. He continued to work on his musical skills, however, and by 1999, he signed to a contract with RCA Records Nashville. Griggs has been married twice, first to Stephanie Sullivan in February in 1995, but they were eventually separated. In 2005 Griggs married Renee who eventually separated due to an affair he was having with another woman.

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE (born 30 March 1945), is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist and separately as a member of the Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time". He was also named number five in Time magazine's list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009.

In the mid-1960s, Clapton left the Yardbirds to play blues with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Immediately after leaving Mayall, Clapton formed the power trio Cream with drummer Ginger Baker and bassist Jack Bruce, in which Clapton played sustained blues improvisations and "arty, blues-based psychedelic pop". Furthermore, he formed blues rock band Blind Faith with Baker, Steve Winwood, and Ric Grech. For most of the 1970s, Clapton's output bore the influence of the mellow style of JJ Cale and the reggae of Bob Marley. His version of Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" helped reggae reach a mass market. Two of his most popular recordings were "Layla", recorded with Derek and the Dominos; and Robert Johnson's "Crossroads", recorded with Cream. Following the death of his son Conor in 1991, Clapton's grief was expressed in the song "Tears in Heaven", which featured in his Unplugged album.