Songfacts®:

• One of John Legend's most enduring songs, "So High" is an uplifting tune about a love that takes him to new heights. It's part of his first album, Get Lifted, which includes the kiss-off song "Used to Love U" and the cheating song "She Don't Have to Know," but also love songs like "So High" and "Ordinary People" that are right in his sweet spot. Those are the songs that earned Legend a reputation as singer tuned in to the complexities of love. After he met the model Chrissy Teigen a few years later, he wrote some similar songs inspired by her. They got married in 2013.
• A remix with Lauryn Hill on vocals was issued as part of the single. Legend's first major credit was playing piano on Hill's song "Everything Is Everything" from her seminal 1998 album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. He was just 19 at the time and still a student at the University of Pennsylvania. Before he became a solo artist, Legend worked behind the scenes for other artists. You can hear his vocals on the 2003 Alicia Keys song "You Don't Know My Name."
• "So High" samples "I Don't Need No Reason," a 1973 song by The Miracles.
• Devo Harris produced this song and co-wrote it with Legend. Harris was a key collaborator early in Legend's career. He introduced John to Kanye West, who signed him to his GOOD Music label. Get Lifted was the first album released on the label.
• "So High" was the fourth and final single released from the Get Lifted album. Along with "Ordinary People," it's one of the songs from the album that has stuck around in Legend's setlists throughout his career, carrying forward with a timeless message that's stayed relevant across his life stages.
• The music video was directed by Diane Martel, who also worked on Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" and Beyoncé's "Best Thing I Never Had." The video is heavily composited and really leans into the "high" theme, showing images of John Legend floating in the sky and in an airplane, where he spots a lovely lady on the wing (there was a Twilight Zone episode with similar imagery that was a lot more frightening).