"Heaven Beside You" | ||||||||||
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Single by Alice in Chains | ||||||||||
from the album Alice in Chains | ||||||||||
Released | 1996 | |||||||||
Format | CD, vinyl | |||||||||
Recorded | April–August 1995 at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington | |||||||||
Genre | Grunge | |||||||||
Length | 5:27 | |||||||||
Label | Columbia | |||||||||
Writer(s) | Lyrics: Jerry Cantrell Music: Jerry Cantrell & Mike Inez |
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Producer(s) |
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Alice in Chains singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Heaven Beside You" is a song by American grunge band Alice in Chains, from their third album Alice in Chains (1995). The song was included on the compilation albums Music Bank (1999), Greatest Hits (2001), and The Essential Alice in Chains (2006).
"Heaven Beside You" was written and sung by guitarist Jerry Cantrell with Layne Staley doing harmonies during the chorus. The song is a mid-tempo song that contrasts the general overall "heaviness" of Alice in Chains' eponymous album.
"Heaven Beside You" was written by Jerry Cantrell after the break-up with his girlfriend of seven years. Cantrell was unable to remain faithful to the woman who he described as "the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life," and added, "I still love her, but I'm too much of a fucking wolf—kill, attack, move on...It's so tough when you're so used to being hard. You can't tell an oak tree to be a pine." In the liner notes of 1999's Music Bank box set collection, Jerry Cantrell said of the song:
Another attempt to reconcile the fact that my life and paths are tearing me apart from the person I love. All the things I write about her are a way for me to maybe speak to her, express things I could never express.
"Heaven Beside You" was released as a single in 1996. "Heaven Beside You" peaked at number 52 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart, making it Alice in Chains' second-highest charting single after "No Excuses". "Heaven Beside You" peaked at number three on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and at number six on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Heaven Beside You" reached the top 40 in the UK.