Heat Waves

Lyrics meaning of Heat Waves by Glass Animals, and what it is about

"Heat Waves" is a song by British experimental rock band Glass Animals, released as a single from their third studio album Dreamland in June 2020.

Bayley stated that "Heat Waves" "is about loss and longing, and ultimately realising you are unable to save something".

He said that "Also, this song is about memories and it's very nostalgic, and sometimes people feel more of that in the winter. Maybe that's part of the reason this song's hung around for so bloody long – everyone's locked inside and trapped in their own thoughts."

"Heat Waves" starts on a high and then drops into despair before rising again for a cheerful, optimistic finale, much like the crests and troughs of a real wave.

Bayley came up with the chords one day while playing around on the guitar. He wrote the lyrics in just an hour, prompted by the death of a close friend whose birthday was in June.

In March 2021, the podcast Song Exploder featured an interview with Dave Bayley that specifically discussed the creation of "Heat Waves".

He says "weirdly, Johnny Depp was the first person to hear this song." In it, he says that after writing/performing the song late at night alone in the studio, he decided to go home when he realized a stranger was sitting behind him. It was Depp who had been working in another studio.

The song was a sleeper hit, it is the band's signature song and biggest hit single to date.

In addition to reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart and being a top-five hit in several other European countries, it reached number one in Australia, Canada, Switzerland and the United States, where it topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks in early 2022 after a record-breaking 59-week climb to number one.

At 91 weeks, it is the longest charting song on the Hot 100 of all time, surpassing "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd.

Heat Waves lyrics by Glass Animals

Last night, all I think about is you

Don't stop, baby, you can walk through

Don't want, baby, think about you

You know that I'm never gonna lose

Road shimmer wigglin' the vision

Heat, heat waves, I'm swimmin' in a mirror

Road shimmer wigglin' the vision

Heat, heat waves, I'm swimmin' in a—

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

Usually I put somethin' on TV

So we never think about you and me

But today I see our reflections clearly

In Hollywood, layin' on the screen

You just need a better life than this

You need somethin' I can never give

Fake water all across the road

It's gone now, the night has come, but

Sometimes all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

You can't fight it, you can't breathe

You say somethin' so lovin', but

Now I gotta let you go

You'll be better off in someone new

I don't wanna be alone

You know it hurts me too

You look so broken when you cry

One more and then I'll say goodbye

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

I just wonder what you're dreamin' of

When you sleep and smile so comfortable

I just wish that I could give you that

That look that's perfectly un-sad

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

Sometimes, all I think about is you

Late nights in the middle of June

Heat waves been fakin' me out

Can't make you happier now

Road shimmer wigglin' the vision

Heat, heat waves, I'm swimmin' in a mirror

Road shimmer wigglin' the vision

Heat, heat waves, I'm swimmin' in a mirror