Jackson Dean has a Top 15 hit right now, with “Heavens To Betsy.” The song is from his sophomore On the Back of My Dreams album, out last year.  Dean wrote the song with Benjy Davis and Driver Williams. The phrase was brought up by Williams during their songwriting session, something that Dean now says didn’t make any sense to him at all.

“That line has never been used around me growing up or anything,” Dean tells Billboard. “I took it very literally.”

So literally, in fact, that he imagined a father actually talking to his daughter named Betsy, while he was in Heaven, via CB Radio.

“It had to be dark,” Williams says. “Because whoever was in Heaven, he’s obviously dead. And it’s just like, ‘Man, how dark can we get with this?’ And we went really dark with it.”

The Heartbreaking Inspiration Behind The Message of “Heavens To Betsy”

Both Dean and Davis recalled heartbreaking moments in their own childhood, which helped bring “Heavens to Betsy” to life.

“Both of my best friends growing up slept on my couch for probably two years, on and off,” Dean recalls. “I remember Dylan’s dad never being in the picture until we were 16, 17 years old, so I had that little bit of connection with it. And I’ve seen so many situations like that.”

“I lived next to a family with some kids, and one day, the dad’s truck stopped showing up,” adds Davis. “Over time, it became obvious that they were having some sort of issues. But [pink rain boots], that’s a really, really specific image. But that’s kind of what I had.”

Why Jackson Dean Released “Heavens To Besty” As A Single

Dean was just 19 years old when he wrote “Heavens To Betsy.” When he wrote it, he never even imagined it would be a single. But after performing it for his 2023 Live At The Ryman album, the Maryland native knew “Heavens To Betsy” was headed straight to the radio.

“’Heavens to Betsy’ is like the little song that could,” Davis shares. “We wrote it, and never thought it’d see the light of day. But I started playing it on radio tour to get it out of my head… and kill time, and I saw a grown man break down and cry to it. That’s an image that will hit you like a ton of bricks. So we started incorporating a bigger version of it into our live shows and I thought the Live At The Ryman version would be the only place it lived. But once again this song exceeded my expectations… night after night people tell me how it’s helping them through their grief – which is such a beautiful thing.”

Find “Heavens To Betsy” and all of Dean’s music and upcoming shows at JacksonDeanMusic.com.

Photo Credit: CMA / Acacia Evans