High Hopes (Panic! at the Disco song)


"High Hopes" is a song by American pop rock band Panic! at the Disco. The song was released through Fueled by Ramen and DCD2 Records on May 23, 2018 as the second single from their sixth studio album, Pray for the Wicked. The song was written and produced by Jake Sinclair and Jonas Jeberg, and co-written by Brendon Urie, Jenny Owen Youngs, Lauren Pritchard, Sam Hollander, William Lobban-Bean, Taylor Parks, and Ilsey Juber; with additional production by Jonny Coffer. It was serviced to alternative radio on July 31, 2018, and impacted hot adult contemporary radio on August 27, 2018, and US pop radio the following day. The music video was also released on August 27, 2018.
"High Hopes" peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting song on the chart, surpassing their 2006 breakout single, the top 10 hit "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". It topped the charts in Poland, and reached the top ten and top twenty in several countries, becoming their highest-charting single worldwide.
It holds the record for most weeks spent at number one on the US Hot Rock Songs chart, at 65 weeks. It also became the act's first single to top one of Billboards Dance/Electronic charts, reaching number-one on its Dance/Mix Show Airplay list in February 2019.

Background

"High Hopes" was written and produced by Jake Sinclair and Jonas Jeberg, and co-written by Brendon Urie, Jenny Owen Youngs, Lauren Pritchard, Sam Hollander, William Lobban-Bean, Taylor Parks, and Ilsey Juber; with additional production by Jonny Coffer. Jeberg, Parks, Juber, and Lobban-Bean began writing the song at a BMI writing camp in Aspen, Colorado in 2015. When the four of them had arrived an hour early, they decided to go into a hot tub together outside. Jeberg has said of the song's conception: "I was sitting in the hot tub, singing bass notes. We didn't have any instruments because we were in the hot tub. I was singing bass notes and directing chords in that way, and we were brainstorming different lyrics." Eventually they set up a portable recording studio and began recording a demo version with a beat, horns and vocals. Initially, the song's hook was conceived as a rap song, and they began sending it to different artists who all declined. In 2016, Panic! at the Disco's management company said the band wanted to record the song for their next studio album. In early 2018, lead singer Brendon Urie co-wrote the verses for "High Hopes", before Sinclair, Jeberg and Coffer were brought in to finish the production.

Composition

The song is written in the key of F major with a tempo of 82 beats per minute. During their live performances, it's sung in the key of E♭ major.

Music video

The audio track was uploaded to Panic! at the Disco's official YouTube channel on the same day of its release, on May 23, 2018. An official music video for the song was uploaded on August 27, 2018., the music video has surpassed 426 million views. The video was filmed in the Downtown area of Los Angeles, California, primarily at 705 West 9th Street.
The video features lead vocalist Brendon Urie walking through LA as passersby bump into him. Eventually, he sizes up a skyscraper with a glass exterior. Determined, he presses a foot to the glass, flips horizontally, and begins walking up the outside of the wall. People flock to the base of the building, recording Urie and watching with awe. He waves to the people below and inside the building, and finally gets to the roof as the crowd below applauds. As the sun sets, he joins the rest of the band on the roof and continues to sing the final chorus of the song.

Reception

Paste magazine described it as having "a blaring brass section" and "crisp vocals". Rolling Stone described it as "upbeat" and having "punchy horns".

Commercial performance

"High Hopes" has peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100, making it Panic! at the Disco's highest-charting song, exceeding the peak of "I Write Sins Not Tragedies", which reached number seven 12 years prior. In August 2019, the song became one of the few songs to spend a full year on the chart when it logged its 52nd week on the chart. Also in the United States, it reached number one on the Radio Songs airplay chart, marking their first leader there. Worldwide, the song has charted highly, reaching number seven in Australia and number twelve in the United Kingdom, also becoming their highest-charting song in those countries. Also, "High Hopes" is the fourth song to top the Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs and Alternative Songs charts simultaneously since the Adult Pop Songs chart began in Billboard in March 1996, the Pop Songs chart began in October 1992 and the Alternative Songs chart began in September 1988. Also, with 14 weeks on top of Radio Songs, "High Hopes" tied Alicia Keys' "No One" and Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" for fifth longest-leading number one on the Radio Songs chart, which began in 1990. And with 15 weeks on top of Adult Pop Songs, "High Hopes" is now the longest-leading No. 1 on the Adult Pop Songs chart of the 2010s, which began in Billboards pages in March 1996. "High Hopes" also has the distinction of being the first Panic! at the Disco song to register on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at number eight. In June 2019, "High Hopes" broke the record for most weeks at No. 1 on Billboards Hot Rock Songs chart, logging 34 consecutive weeks at the top.. On the chart dated January 18, 2020, "High Hopes" set a new record on Billboards Hot Rock Songs chart, logging its 52nd week at the top - an entire year. It went on to spend a total of 65 weeks atop the chart, eventually dethroned by Twenty One Pilots' "Level of Concern", another release from Fueled by Ramen label, on April 25, 2020. It was ranked number-one on the 2019 Year-End Rock Songs chart.

Use in media and politics

In 2018, CBS Sports used "High Hopes" to promote their featured SEC Game of the Week. This was the second time that CBS has used a song recorded by Panic! to promote their sports events, with Say Amen being the first, and Hey Look Ma, I Made It being the third one, as it was used as the background music for the opening of their NCAA Bracket Preview Show.
In 2019, Rede Globo used "High Hopes" as the background music for advertisements for its streaming service Globoplay to advertise its offerings and programs. The song was also used in the trailer for the 2019 animated film Klaus.
The song was the campaign anthem of 2020 Democratic Party presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and was played at most of his rallies and speeches. A special dance was created by staff and volunteers of the Buttigieg campaign. It has also been used by candidate Amy Klobuchar, and by Cory Booker and Julian Castro prior to the suspension of their campaigns.
The song was featured and remixed in the heavily-panned . It was used in the soundtrack for the NHL 19 video game, as well as the trailers for films such as the 2020 upcoming animated film Connected and the 2020 Australian film Go!.
The song was used at a Trump re-election rally in June 2020, to which Urie tweeted "Dear Trump Campaign, Fuck you. You’re not invited. Stop playing my song. No thanks, Brendon Urie, Panic! At The Disco & company", which was accompanied by a cease and desist order and a voter registration link encouraging fans to vote against Trump in November.

Awards and nominations

Track listing

  1. "High Hopes" – 2:56
  1. "High Hopes" – 3:05
  1. "High Hopes" – 3:22

    Credits and personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 71
Austria 17
Belgium 16
Belgium 37
Canada 16
Denmark 38
France 64
Germany 28
Hungary 7
Hungary 18
Hungary 5
Italy 63
Latvia 57
Netherlands 25
Netherlands 28
Poland 28
Slovenia 13
Sweden 34
Switzerland 14
Ukraine Airplay 130
UK Singles 31
US Billboard Hot 10011
US Adult Contemporary 12
US Adult Top 40 2
US Dance/Mix Show Airplay 6
US Hot Rock Songs 1
US Mainstream Top 40 7
US Rock Airplay 1
US Rolling Stone Top 10037

Decade-end charts

Certifications