Have You Heard

Album: Gardenview (2022)
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Songfacts®:

  • Nataly Dawn's parents are Christian missionaries, teaching that the Rapture will leave non-believers behind. They came from a long line of evangelical Christians, but Nataly broke from their faith in favor of a different spiritual path. In "Have You Heard," she comes to terms with the teachings she grew up with.

    "I don't generally write hymns but when I sat down and started playing this song, the first lyric, 'Have you heard that the Rapture is coming?' came out," she said in a Songfacts interview. "I grew up with this feeling that the Rapture was a scary thing. That you would come home one day and all of your family would be gone and you would be left behind. So the idea of the Rapture was a pretty terrifying thing for me growing up. I decided I wanted to retell that story, change the narrative, and make it about homecoming and divine acceptance, not contingent on what you've done or what you believe. Just unconditional love and acceptance. I think that's something that should be at the core of more faiths if we're going to teach about an all-knowing God. It needs to be more based in acceptance and less in judgment. But that's just how I feel.

    I just decided to retell the story of the Rapture, but I'm singing it as a hymn. It's a song for people who have grown up with a lot of guilt and shame and judgment. It opens something up for them and they're able to relax and say, 'This is more like it, this is actually healing to hear this version of God.' At least that's my hope."
  • Nataly Dawn is most often seen in videos for Pomplamoose, the duo she formed with Jack Conte in 2008. Pomplamoose used YouTube as their home base, making videos to songs where they showed every sound being made. They build a loyal following on the platform that allowed them to stay independent and limit their touring. Over the years, they expanded their circle with additional musicians and video producers, making videos with more production value that were even more successful.

    Along the way, Dawn made solo albums from time to time as an outlet for her more intimate songs. "Have You Heard" is the first track on her album Gardenview, which she worked on with John Schroeder and Ross Garren.

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