Songfacts®:

• Previewed in March 2015 as a snippet on Rihanna's Instagram, this song captures the yearning of those drunk in love, as the Bajan songstress invites her man over while admitting she's inebriated.
  
  Rihanna was herself more than a little tipsy during the recording session. She shared with her followers a photo with the caption: "Drunk off da whiskey with these two rockstars."
• The song was written by Bibi Bourelly, a Berlin songwriter who also penned Rihanna's hit single, "Bitch Better Have My Money." She told Noisey: "The 20 minutes it took me to write 'Higher' is actually what changed my life, because, even though we wrote 'Bitch Better Have My Money' first, she heard that one first."
• The Philly soul song writing duo of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff are also credited as writers. The song contains elements of their 1970 tune "Beside You," as performed by The Soulful Strings.
• Speaking to Vogue, Rihanna compared the song to "a drunk voice mail." She explained, "You know he's wrong, and then you get drunk and you're like, 'I could forgive him. I could call him. I could make up with him.' Just, desperate."
  
  Rihanna added, "We just said, 'You know what? Let's just drink some whiskey and record this song.'"