Top of the World

"Top of the World" is a contemporary folk-country song written by Patty Griffin and most known as recorded and performed in Grammy Award-winning fashion by the Dixie Chicks. Griffin wrote and recorded "Top of the World" in 2000 for Silver Bell, but a dispute with her label A&M Records caused Griffin to be dropped and the album to go unreleased for 13 years. In the meantime, copies of Silver Bell circulated and increased Griffin's reputation as a songwriter within the music industry. The Dixie Chicks had already covered other Griffin songs and had toured with Griffin on their 2000 Fly Tour. They recorded two Silver Bell songs, "Truth No. 2" and "Top of the World," for their 2002 album Home, the latter as the concluding track. Beginning quietly with Home'''s mixture of acoustic stringed instruments, and with the vocal line shifting around among one-, two-, and three-part singing, "Top of the World" begins by portraying an almost unbearable level of regret at things not done. Tension is built up with pauses, then midway through a string section begins accompanying in an ominous fashion as the reason for the regret is unveiled. The strings then pick up in intensity during the instrumental coda, as Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines moans wordlessly and then repeats "To the top of the world" as a mantra over and over.