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Heaven is a Place on Earth
by Dan Taylor


You know, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about the Belinda Carlile song “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” and the philosophical/religious implications of such a message. Is she some sort of gnostic initiate? A hermetical practitioner of alchemy?

What do we know about her? First, she is from The City of Angels, just like Jack Parsons, that majik practitioner and Thelemite apostle of Aleister Crowley. Also, she chants every day the Namu Myoho Renge Kyo, the Buddhist mantra used to to attain perfect and complete awakening.

So, sure, heaven on earth sounds like a great idea to me, Belinda Carlisle, but I am not in the possession of a philosopher's store like you. Or am I? Maybe upon a deeper lyrical analysis, we are all in possession of a philosopher's stone and that this stone is love. Let’s take a look:

First, the scene is set, “And the world's alive, With the sound of kids, On the street outside.”

I get it, a loud, boisterous summer night in the city. What else does she have in store for us?

“When you walk into the room
You pull me close and we start to move
And we're spinning with the stars above
And you lift me up in a wave of love…”

Oh la la, okay now it starts to get steamy...And do I know what that is worth? Maybe I previously did not. Like a shipwrecked vessel, she continues, “When I'm lost at sea, I hear your voice And it carries me.” The same Heaven then, where love comes first. Okay, I’m starting to feel the vibe.

And here comes the beautiful crux of the whole song, “In this world we're just beginning
To understand the miracle of living, Baby I was afraid before, But I'm not afraid anymore.”

In the tradition of other new wave songs influenced by the arcana, such as “As Above, So Below,” by the Tom Tom Club, “Heaven is a Place on Earth,” comes from a long line of artistic expression positing that we can immanentize the eschaton.


And in her attempt to do so, Belinda Carlisle has at the very least produced some great pop music.