Song Spotlight: “Heaven Knows” by The Pretty Reckless

Going to Hell (2014) — official album cover, used here for identification/commentary purposes.

Currently on repeat: “Heaven Knows” by The Pretty Reckless. Rating: 5/5 — an anthemic, glam-tinged rock stomp that earns every bit of its swagger.

Read the lyrics ·
Watch the music video on YouTube ·
Listen on Spotify

What it’s about

Rather than quote the lyrics directly, here’s the gist: “Heaven Knows” is built around a big, defiant, sing-along chorus aimed squarely at outsiders and “troubled teens” — Rolling Stone’s Chucky Eddy described it exactly that way, calling it a “full-on glam stomp” about kids who don’t fit the mold. There’s a rebellious, us-against-the-world energy running through it, delivered with a theatrical, almost gospel-sized swell in the chorus that makes it feel bigger than a typical hard rock single. Billboard’s Chris Payne put it well, comparing the track to “Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’ with Joan Jett vocals” — stomp-and-clap bravado crossed with real rock snarl.

Interesting facts about the song

• It’s from Going to Hell (2014). The song was released as a single on November 19, 2013, ahead of the album’s March 2014 release.
• Written by Taylor Momsen and Ben Phillips, produced by Kato Khandwala, and recorded at Water Music Studios in Hoboken, NJ — the same studio that had been significantly damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012, forcing the band to redo portions of their material.
• It made chart history. “Heaven Knows” became the band’s first single to top a Billboard chart, spending three weeks at #1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs chart — only the second time in 24 years a female-fronted band’s single had topped that chart.
• It went platinum in both the US and Canada, and gold in New Zealand, and also topped the UK Rock & Metal Singles Chart.
• The music video, co-directed by Taylor Momsen herself, premiered in February 2014 and was shot in Miami — burning books, tattooed teenagers, a dark high-school setting. Momsen has described the visual approach as deliberately understated.

Interesting facts about The Pretty Reckless

• Formed in New York in 2009 by Taylor Momsen and guitarist Ben Phillips. They were originally called The Reckless before a trademark conflict forced a name change.
• Momsen quit acting to do this. Before fronting the band, she played Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl (2007–2012) and appeared in How the Grinch Stole Christmas as a kid. She’s said she chose music over continuing the acting career.
• Their debut, Light Me Up (2010), produced the single “Make Me Wanna Die,” which hit #1 on the UK Rock Singles chart.
• They kept setting records. The band went on to become the first female-fronted act with seven different singles topping the Mainstream Rock chart.
• Current lineup: Taylor Momsen (vocals/rhythm guitar), Ben Phillips (lead guitar/backing vocals), Mark Damon (bass), and Jamie Perkins (drums).