"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 Billboard's Dance/Electronic charts, reaching number-one on its
Dance/Mix Show Airplay list in February 2019.[5][6]
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.[7] 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."[8] 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.[7][8]
Composition
Sheet music for the song shows the key of
F major with a tempo of 80–84 beats per minute.[9] During their live performances, it is sung in the key of
E-flat major. Urie's vocals span from the low note D3 to the high note of D5.[9]
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.
Paste magazine described it as having "a blaring brass section" and "crisp vocals."[12]Rolling Stone described it as "upbeat" and having "punchy horns."[13]
Commercial performance
"High Hopes" peaked at number four on the
Billboard Hot 100, making it Panic! at the Disco's highest-charting song, exceeding the peak of "
I Write Sins Not Tragedies", which reached number seven 12 years prior.[14] In August 2019, the song became one of the few songs to spend a full year on the chart when it logged its 52nd week on the chart.[15] Also in the United States, it reached number one on the Radio Songs airplay chart, marking their first leader there. Worldwide, the song has charted highly, reaching number seven in Australia and number twelve in the United Kingdom, also becoming their highest-charting song in those countries. Also, "High Hopes" is the fourth song to top the
Pop Songs,
Adult Pop Songs and
Alternative Songs charts simultaneously since the Adult Pop Songs chart began in Billboard in March 1996, the Pop Songs chart began in October 1992 and the Alternative Songs chart began in September 1988.[16] Also, with 14 weeks on top of
Radio Songs, "High Hopes" tied
Alicia Keys' "
No One" and
Celine Dion's "
Because You Loved Me" for fifth longest-leading number one on the Radio Songs chart, which began in 1990.[17]
With 15 weeks on top of
Adult Pop Songs, "High Hopes" became the longest-leading No. 1 on the Adult Pop Songs chart of the
2010s, which began in Billboard's pages in March 1996.[18] "High Hopes" also has the distinction of being the first Panic! at the Disco song to register on the BillboardAdult Contemporary chart, where it peaked at number eight. In June 2019, "High Hopes" broke the record for most weeks at No. 1 on Billboard's
Hot Rock Songs chart, logging 34 consecutive weeks at the top.[19] On the chart dated January 18, 2020, "High Hopes" set a new record on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart, logging its 52nd week at the top - an entire year.[20] It went on to spend a total of 65 weeks atop the chart, eventually dethroned by
Twenty One Pilots' "
Level of Concern", another release from Fueled by Ramen label, on April 25, 2020. It was ranked number-one on the 2019 Year-End Rock Songs chart.[21]
In late 2023, for the 35th anniversary of Alternative Airplay, Billboard ranked "High Hopes" as the ninth most successful song in the chart's history.[22][23]
Use in media and politics
When the song first came out,
NBC and NBCSN used it to promote their coverage of the
2018 Stanley Cup Finals which had the band's hometown team, the
Vegas Golden Knights, in the finals against the
Washington Capitals. The band later performed the song before Game 5, the final game of the series, which resulted in a 4–2 victory for the Capitals, who claimed their first Stanley Cup in franchise history over the Knights, winning the series 4–1.
In 2019,
Rede Globo used "High Hopes" as the background music for advertisements for its streaming service
Globoplay to advertise its offerings and programs. The song was also used in the trailer for the 2019 animated film Klaus.[24]
The song was used at a Trump re-election rally in June 2020, to which Urie tweeted "Dear Trump Campaign, Fuck you. You’re not invited. Stop playing my song. No thanks, Brendon Urie, Panic! At The Disco & company," which was accompanied by a cease and desist order and a voter registration link encouraging fans to vote against Trump in November.[27]
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 201851,52 into search. Retrieved January 3, 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – SINGLES DIGITAL – TOP 100 and insert 201903 into search. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: insert 201911 into search. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
^"
ČNS IFPI" (in Slovak). Hitparáda – Singles Digital Top 100 Oficiálna. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select SINGLES DIGITAL - TOP 100 and insert 201903 into search. Retrieved January 22, 2019.