‘Heaven By Noon’ by Megan Moroney - Lyrics & Meaning

Well, it's certainly been a long time coming, but the day is finally here when we can say Megan Moroney's intricate, fan-favourite song, ‘Heaven By Noon’, is available to stream.

First teased in March 2023, the heartbroken reflection on grief was originally expected to feature on the deluxe version Georgia prodigy's debut album, Lucky, which dropped in May 2023, but that project came and went with no sign of ’Heaven By Noon’.

Just as we were starting to fear we'd never get to hear the full version of ‘Heaven By Noon’, which finds Megan Moroney crooning forlornly to a departed loved one, she unveiled the tracklist for her sophomore project, Am I Okay?, with fans celebrating the appearance of ‘Heaven By Noon’ at No. 12 on the fourteen-song album. Megan Moroney viscerally and heartbreakingly steps into the shoes of her aunt, who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks on September 11 2001.

‘Heaven By Noon’ is soaked in the atmospheric, crying steel and serene acoustic guitar that Megan Moroney utilises on other hits such as ‘No Caller ID’ and ‘Girl in the Mirror’.

The instrumental combines with Moroney's signature conversational tone and the gentle rasp she infuses into her vocals to create a hazy, dreamlike ambience. This gives the song an almost angelic, heavenly feel, which mirrors the narrative, as well as conveying the narrator's sense of disorientation and cloudy mental state following the shock of the unexpected news of their loved one's passing.

“Did you know how much I loved you?

Did I tell you enough?

I’ve been crying since I got the call

Been beating myself up”

Ever since Megan Moroney shared that first demo of ‘Heaven By Noon’, fans have inevitably been wondering whether the song is based on a real-life story of grief. In her Apple Music interview with Kelleigh Bannen, Megan Moroney revealed ‘Heaven By Noon’ was penned about a family-member, “A lot of people don't know this, but my uncle died on 9/11, so I thought about my aunt when I was writing that song because…the last thing they talked about was an oil change. And so that's probably not what she would've said, wanted to say to him if she knew it was going to be the last time…It’s definitely a heart wrenching song, and I hope that it helps”. Moroney's evocative lyricism and heartfelt delivery ensures ‘Heaven By Noon’ is relatable and accessible for anyone who's lost someone.

In the aftermath of receiving the phone-call about their death, Megan Moroney confides in the listener that she's been crying nonstop and fretting about whether she left anything unsaid, and whether they knew how much she cared about them.

“I’m angry at the sky

None of this feels right

Only God knows why

I wish I knew tonight

I know where you’re at

And there ain’t no time at all

No heartbreak

No more pain

Just streets of gold you get to walk

When I talked to you this morning

I said I’ll see you soon

Would have said so much more if I only knew

That you’d be in heaven by noon”

‘Heaven By Noon’ revolves around the pervasive feeling of grief and anxiety as to whether you should've spent more time with or said more to the person that's now gone.

Megan Moroney builds out the image of them being in Heaven by directing her frustrations towards the sky and outlining how “Only God knows why” now was the time for them to leave. She heartbreakingly reveals that she spoke to the departed loved one only this morning, and signed off by innocently saying, “See you soon”.

Moroney emphasises how she wishes she'd taken the opportunity to tell them how much they mean to her, with the underlying message of ‘Heaven By Noon’ being to tell the people you care about that you love them whenever you get the chance - because, ultimately, we never know when it'll be the last time we get to do so.

“How’s the world still turning?

And why do the stars still shine?

The strength to get up off this floor

I can’t seem to find”

In this verse, Megan Moroney conveys the same feelings captured by W.H. Auden's famous poem about grief, ‘Funeral Blues’, in which he wonders how life can possibly go on as normal when it feels as though his entire world has just stopped spinning (“Stop all the clocks / Cut off the telephone”). Moroney echoes these sentiments by wondering, “How's the world still turning? / And why do the stars still shine?”

“You got wings

In no time

And I wish we had more time

But it was your time

So until I get there too”

Megan Moroney again extends the spiritually-minded imagery by referencing how the lost loved one has now been given a set of wings as they've made their journey to Heaven.

Moroney employs a clever piece of wordplay as she transitions from how they got their wings “in no time” to the yearning declaration that she wishes “we had more time”, before accepting that “it was your time” - a satisfying cascade of ‘time’-based wordplay.

The 2024 ACM New Female Artist of the Year ends the soul-baring track by finding comfort in the knowledge she'll one day see them again when it's her turn to go to Heaven.

When discussing her sophomore album, Am I Okay?, with Kelleigh Bannen for her popular Today's Country Radio show on Apple Music, Megan Moroney explained the inspiration behind ‘Heaven By Noon’, “A lot of people don't know this, but my uncle died on 9/11, so I thought about my aunt when I was writing that song because… the last thing they talked about was an oil change. And so that's probably not what she would've said, wanted to say to him if she knew it was going to be the last time… It’s definitely a heart wrenching song, and I hope that it helps”.

“Did you know how much I loved you?

Did I tell you enough?

I’ve been crying since I got the call

Been beating myself up

I’m angry at the sky

None of this feels right

Only God knows why

I wish I knew tonight

I know where you’re at

And there ain’t no time at all

No heartbreak

No more pain

Just streets of gold you get to walk

When I talked to you this morning

I said I’ll see you soon

Would have said so much more if I only knew

That you’d be in heaven by noon

How’s the world still turning?

And why do the stars still shine?

The strength to get up off this floor

I can’t seem to find

I’m angry at the sky

And none of this feels right

Only God knows why

But I miss you tonight

I know where you’re at

And there ain’t no time at all

No heartbreak

No more pain

Just streets of gold you get to walk

When I talked to you this morning

I said I’ll see you soon

Would have said so much more if I only knew

That you’d be in heaven by noon

You got wings

In no time

And I wish we had more time

But it was your time

So until I get there too

I know where you’re at

There ain’t no time at all

No heartbreak

No more pain

Just streets of gold you get to walk

When I talked to you this morning

I said I’ll see you soon

Would have said so much more if I only knew

I would have said so much more if I only knew

That you’d be in heaven by noon”

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