Speaking about the song in an interview with Songfacts, Young stated, "I've never had a Lifetime movie encounter with an angel but I definitely do believe they exist and I wanted to write a song to touch on that belief."[3]
Composition and lyrics
"Angels" was written and produced by Adam Young. The track runs at 120 BPM and is in the key of C-sharp minor.[4] Young's range in the song spans from the notes B3 – C♯6.[4] The song refers to Young's faith to God. The song mentions references about "the beauty of our surroundings" and that there are angels all around us, saying, "So if you're dying to see, I guarantee there are angels around your vicinity." The song also makes reference to space with the lyrics going, "Among my frivolous thoughts, I believe there are beautiful things seen by the astronauts."[5]
The song features a lot of guitar. Young stated, "The song 'Angels' has a lot of electric guitar - I do play electric guitar on stage, along with another guitarist. If there's going to be electric guitar on a track, I want to hit it really hard and then pull out so there's lots of dynamics. I like the guitar to jump out at you."[6]