Say Yes to Heaven

Lana Del Rey wrote the song with long-time collaborator Rick Nowels in 2012.[1] It was recorded in November 2013[1] during the sessions of Del Rey's third studio album, Ultraviolence (2014), but did not make the final track-list.[2] The song began to spread in around 2016.[1] In October 2020, "Say Yes to Heaven", also known as "Yes to Heaven",[3] was fully leaked onto the internet and went viral during the next two years;[4] 2022 in particular saw the rise of a sped-up snippet of the song in TikTok.[1] In March 2023, the song was claimed for copyright by UMG and Polydor Records, and sparked speculations about an imminent release.[5] Polydor and Interscope Records surprise-released the song as a single on May 19, 2023, with a sped-up version as its B-side.[6][7][8] Interscope sent the song to US adult alternative radio on June 5, 2023,[9] followed by alternative radio on June 6.[10]

"Say Yes to Heaven" runs for three minutes and twenty-nine seconds.[8] Nowels produced the song, and played electric guitar and Hammond organ. Other musicians include Patrick Warren (guitar, marimba, strings), Tim Pierce (electric guitar), and Brian Griffin (percussion). Dean Reid and Roy English provides drum programming for the song, which was engineered by Kieron Menzies, John Christopher Fee, Trevor Yasuda, and Rocci. It was mixed by Reid and mastered by Ruairi O'Flaherty.[11]

"Say Yes to Heaven" is an ambient[7] and downbeat ballad[12] about a narrator encouraging her lover to run away with her.[13] The acoustic production[14] incorporates muted drums,[15] tambourine,[12] and reverbed, finger-picked guitar arpeggios.[16][5][12] Del Rey's vocals throughout the song is laid back and sharp.[17] The lyrics use romantic imagery and lyrical motifs found in Del Rey's other songs, such as red dress, heaven and dancing.[5] The song opens with gentle acoustic guitar strumming and electronic chords, with the narrator's submission to her lover: ("If you dance, I'll dance / And if you don't, I'll dance anyway / Give peace a chance / let the fear you have fall away").[17] In the chorus, Del Rey sings in a more breathy voice as she describes the narrator's plead to her lover: ("I've got my eye on you / Say yes to heaven / Say yes to me").[5] Towards the end, the narrator's yearning comes out more resolute than desperate to her lover: ("If you dance, I'll dance / I'll put my red dress on, get it on").[17]

Critics described the production as "dreamy",[7][12][17] "heavenly",[7] and "melancholy".[17] Jo Vito of Consequence[15] and Jonathan Cohen from Spin found "Say Yes to Heaven" to be distinct from the leak but thought the song maintains its overall mood.[16] The former also commended Del Rey's "signature, poetic ambiguity" and the sonic pallette that "[she became] so good at crafting".[15] Nylon's Sophia June called the song a "simple gut-punch about submission and yearning"[5] and Alternative Press' Sadie Bell called the song a "sweet, lovelorn ballad".[6] Ted David of American Songwriter praised Del Rey's "playful" vocals and her songwriting for capturing a sense of "stoic, timeless, and implicitly flawed yearning" in the song.[17]

"Say Yes to Heaven" debuted within the top 10 in Ireland (8)[18] and New Zealand (10),[19] and the top 20 in Hungary (15),[20] Latvia (18),[21] Switzerland (18),[22] the Czech Republic (19),[23] and Australia (20).[24] It debuted on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, with peaks of number 54 and number four respectively.[25][26] The song was her best-performing single on the UK Singles Chart in years;[14] it reached number nine, and marked Del Rey's sixth top-10 career entry and her first as a soloist since "Born to Die" (2011).[27][28] The song peaked at number nine on the Polish Streaming Top 100 chart and it received a gold certification by the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV).[29][30] The song reached number 18 on the Billboard Global 200.[31]

Digital download and streaming[8]

1. "Say Yes to Heaven" – 3:29
2. "Say Yes to Heaven (sped up)" – 2:37

Credits are adapted from Tidal:[11]