Meaning of “Higher Ground” by TV Girl

Now getting to “Higher Ground”, the fourth song on the playlist of the album titled “Grapes Upon the Vine”, it can be confidently postulated that this project is replete with religious references. On the previous tracks, said lingo isn’t really that pronounced. But as for “Higher Ground”, it seems to reflect writer/vocalist’s Brad Petering’s philosophy on the afterlife – or at least as far as his own personal one is concerned.

The narrative starts off with the vocalist recognizing his mortality, i.e. the fact that he isn’t going to be around forever. But upon doing so, he does not anticipate there being a “higher ground”. 

That titular phrase is a colloquialism that can be used in a couple of different ways. But what it generally points to is the notion of a superior level of morality. For instance, let’s say you see money fall out of someone’s pocket, without them or anyone else realizing it. Either you can pocket the money yourself, or you can take the ‘higher ground’ and notify said individual.

So within the context of the afterlife and as utilized in this song, “higher ground” would most logically point to Heaven. Or put frankly, the chorus seems to highlight that vocalist’s belief that there isn’t any heaven.

“You can look up to me, baby
And I might see you looking down
‘Cause there ain’t no higher ground
There ain’t no higher ground”

And this is a really interesting song because all lyrics considered, such as implied at the beginning of the chorus, it’s not as if Brad thinks that Heaven doesn’t exist per se. Rather, as poetically alluded to in the second verse, he feels as if he has reached a point where redemption is not possible. 

So along those lines, all that’s being said also seemingly serves the purpose, if we were to take the first line of second verse literally, of Brad letting the addressee know that he doesn’t even intend on attempting to be a good guy during their relationship. In other words, this song seemingly possesses a romantic undertone also.

That said, the interlude is far from easy to understand. That’s in part because as of this writing, a certain segment of it has proven unintelligible. But secondly, as we’ve pointed out numerous times in the past, religious/spiritual terminology tends to be such that it can intrinsically be interpreted in different ways. 

So for instance, at this moment we can’t rightfully speculate on what Petering may mean by referencing “the pretty cross”. Perhaps we will, once we delve deeper into “Grapes Upon the Vine”. But for now, the simplest way of describing the thesis sentiment of this piece is as revolving around the vocalist’s belief that he is not going to Heaven.

When was “Higher Ground” released?

As of the dropping of this track on 30 June 2023, TV Girl is a trio consisting of the following:

• Wyatt Harmon
• Jason Wyman
• Brad Petering

The aforementioned “Grapes Upon the Vine” is TV’s Girl fifth non-collaborative studio album. It came out on the date noted above, being copyrighted by a company known as Blissful Serenity Industries.