"High Hopes" is a song by American pop rock solo project Panic! at the Disco. The song was released through Fueled by Ramen and DCD2 Records on May 23, 2018, as the second single from the band's sixth studio album, Pray for the Wicked (2018). The song was written and produced by Jake Sinclair and Jonas Jeberg, and co-written by Brendon Urie, Jenny Owen Youngs, Lauren Pritchard, Sam Hollander, William Lobban-Bean, Taylor Parks, and Ilsey Juber, with additional production by Jonny Coffer. It was serviced to alternative radio on July 31, 2018, and impacted hot adult contemporary radio on August 27, 2018, and US pop radio the following day.
"High Hopes" peaked at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming the band's highest-charting song on the chart, surpassing their 2006 breakout single "I Write Sins Not Tragedies". It topped the charts in Poland and reached the top ten and top twenty in several countries, becoming their highest-charting single worldwide. It holds the record for most weeks spent at number one on the US Hot Rock Songs chart, at 65 weeks. It also became the act's first single to top one of Billboards Dance/Electronic charts, reaching number-one on its Dance/Mix Show Airplay list in February 2019."Mark Ronson & Miley Cyrus Top Dance Club Songs Chart With 'Nothing Breaks Like a Heart'" from Billboard (February 7, 2019)
Background
"High Hopes" was written and produced by Jake Sinclair and Jonas Jeberg, and co-written by Brendon Urie, Jenny Owen Youngs, Lauren Pritchard, Sam Hollander, William Lobban-Bean, Taylor Parks, and Ilsey Juber; with additional production by Jonny Coffer. Jeberg, Parks, Juber, and Lobban-Bean began writing the song at a BMI writing camp in Aspen, Colorado in 2015. When the four of them had arrived an hour early, they decided to go into a hot tub together outside. Jeberg has said of the song's conception: "I was sitting in the hot tub, singing bass notes. We didn't have any instruments because we were in the hot tub. I was singing bass notes and directing chords in that way, and we were brainstorming different lyrics." Eventually they set up a portable recording studio and began recording a demo version with a beat, horns and vocals. Initially, the song's hook was conceived as a rap song, and they began sending it to different artists who all declined. In 2016, Panic! at the Disco's management company said the band wanted to record the song for their next studio album. In early 2018, lead singer Brendon Urie co-wrote the verses for "High Hopes," before Sinclair and Jeberg (later, Coffer) were brought in to finish the production.
Composition
The song is written in the key of F major with a tempo of 82 beats per minute. During their live performances, it's sung in the key of Eb major. Urie's vocals span from the low note D3 to the high note of D5.
Music video
The audio track was uploaded to Panic! at the Disco's official YouTube channel on the same day of its release on May 23, 2018. An official music video for the song was uploaded on August 27, 2018. As of April 13, 2023, the music video has 724 million views.
The video features lead vocalist Brendon Urie walking through Los Angeles as people bump into him. Eventually, he sizes up a skyscraper with a glass exterior. Determined, he presses a foot to the glass, flips horizontally, and begins walking up the outside of the wall. People flock to the base of the building, recording Urie and watching with awe. He waves to the people below and inside the building, and finally gets to the roof as the crowd below applauds. As the sun sets, he joins the rest of the band on the roof and continues to sing the final chorus of the song.
Live performances
To promote the album, the band performed the song at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards and their concert on The Today Show.
Critical reception
Paste magazine described it as having "a blaring brass section" and "crisp vocals." Rolling Stone described it as "upbeat" and having "punchy horns."