We’re gonna look at covers of Heaven is a Place on Earth.
The song is an iconic piece of 80s pop. Simple song structure with lyrics that won’t likely be defined as complex. A song that can easily get stuck in your head.
Heaven is a Place on Earth was produced and co-written by Rick Nowels and Ellen Shipley who together worked on multiple Belinda Carlisle albums.
Nowels was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020 and has worked with artists ranging from Fleetwood Mac, Tupac, Lana del Rey, The Weeknd, N’Sync, Madonna, and many more.
The Belinda Carlisle version was released on MCA September 1987 and reach number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Zimbabwe
The song also contributes to soundtracks of shows like Black Mirror and The Handmaid’s Tale.
Since the 1987 song’s creation, musicians have created covers in a variety of genres: From pop, to ska, to metal, to punk, to musicals. The quality of the covers range in quality, from the good, to the bad, to the *shudder* Kidz Bop.
Here is a look at a series of covers that have been created.
Action Now (2011) – Pop Punk
This was directed by and is on the YouTube account of Faster More Intense. The account has four videos: two music videos, a trailer to a music video, and a 20 minute Swedish documentary. This came off of Action Now’s EP, “Action Force”. Since the band’s website no longer works, I’m going to take a guess that it didn’t quite work out which is a bit of a bummer as this is a pretty good cover. The vocals blend well together and the instrumentals sound different from a lot of the other covers I’ve listened to.
Is this heaven a place on earth? Possibly my favorite version coming from a band who dropped an EP and disappeared.
🤘🤘🤘🤘☝️
Sebdoom (2018) – Pop Metal
Sebdoom is Sébastien Pierre, a musician and digital artist who makes metal covers for video games like Mass Effect. One of Pierre’s current projects is with the band Enshine, who released their EP Transcending Fire in July on their Bandcamp, which is going to be a lot darker and heavier than the Carlisle cover.
There is an instrumental and a version with a woman’s vocals, assumed to be Belinda Carlisle’s vocals although it could be somebody who sounds very similar, although that version wouldore be considered a remix more than a cover.
The instrumentals are pretty good. Anyone who would be interested in the idea of pop metal should check it out. This song as a whole is enjoyable although it’s one of the longer versions, coming in at over 7 minutes. I guess that makes it “7 minutes of Heaven”
Is Heaven being a place on Earth:
🤘🤘🤘☝️
The Wild featuring Norma Jean Martine (2017) Club
This version is the one most likely to fit right in at a bar or club. Perhaps the most hip version of the song, if we pretend I know what the fuck hip is. This is one of two songs on The Wild’s Soundcloud.
Norma Jean Martine is from London and has featured for bands like Love Thy Brother and Lost Kings. Martine has a couple collaborations with Sofar Sounds available.
She released a handful of music videos in 2016-2017 but by 2018, she disappeared.
Is Heaven being a place on Earth? Maybe consider making this part of your dance party.
🤘🤘🤘🤘
The Mayries (2018) Acoustic
The Stockholm duo, The Mayries put this acoustic take as a single in 2018 that would end up on an album of acoustic songs along with covers of “Happier” by Bastille and Marshmello and “We are Young” by Fun. The Mayries released an EP of original songs in April 2021.
The harmonies are spot on. The music is simple. The tempo is slower. The production is crisp. I tend to prefer the faster, harder versions of this song, but this is a well composed song.
Is Heaven being a place on Earth? This isn’t the time of music I would be seeking out, but the song is put together well.
🤘🤘🤘
Sound Pixels (2018) 8-bit
It’s neat to see the old Nintendo 8-bit sound system turn into an instrument for a new music genre. For the genre, this is a pretty solid cover.
The Sound Pixels account has a couple other songs, including “Sweet Child of Mind” by Guns and Roses, “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran, and “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, all decent covers.
Is Heaven being a place on Earth?: Nintendo Heaven is a place on Earth.
🎮🎮🎮🎮
There are a lot of covers to go through in a variety of different genres. “Heaven is a Place on Earth” covers are a marathon, not a sprint.
Nathyn With A Y 