Hands to Heaven
# Hands to Heaven

"Hands to Heaven" is a ballad by English new wave band Breathe, taken from their debut studio album, All That Jazz (1987). The song released as their fifth UK single on 20 October 1987 by A&M Records and as the band's second single in the US the following year. It was written by group members David Glasper and Marcus Lillington, and produced by Bob Sargeant. The B-side features an instrumental track "Life and Times".

"Hands to Heaven" was Breathe's breakthrough hit internationally. The single peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1988. That same month in the United States, it logged two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song also reached No. 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. "Hands to Heaven" also became a top-10 hit in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.

## Music video

The music video, directed by Eamon McCabe, features the group in a surreal dream sequence, with the lead singer falling asleep in a black London taxicab and waking at the end, being driven away by the driver.

## Track listings

All songs were written by David Glasper and Marcus Lillington and published by Virgin Music, Inc.

UK 7-inch single (SIREN SRN68)

    A. "Hands to Heaven" – 4:18
    B. "Life and Times" – 4:46

A special limited edition of the 7-inch single which included photos, lyrics and Fan Club address was released in the UK (SRNL 68).

US 7-inch single and cassette single (A&M AM-2991/TS-2991)

    A. "Hands to Heaven" – 4:17
    B. "Life and Times" – 4:44

UK 12-inch single (SIREN SRNT68)

    A1. "Hands to Heaven" (extended Heaven) – 6:23
    B1. "Hands to Heaven" (radio mix) – 4:18
    B2. "Life and Times" – 4:46

A special limited edition of the 12-inch single featured a poster sleeve.

UK CD single (SIREN SRCD 68)1

* "Hands to Heaven" – 4:18
* "All That Jazz" (12-inch version) – 6:15
* "Stay" (7-inch version) – 3:50
* "Life and Times" – 4:44

## Personnel

Band

* David Glasper – vocals
* Marcus Lillington – guitars, keyboards
* Ian "Spike" Spice – drums
* Mike Delahunty – bass

Guest musician

* Paul "Shilts" Weimar – saxophone

Production

* Arranged by Breathe
* Engineer: John Madden ("Hands to Heaven", "Stay")
* Mixing: John Madden ("Life and Times"), Chris Porter ("All That Jazz")
* Remixing: Chris Porter ("Hands to Heaven")

## Cover versions

* Filipino pop singer Christian Bautista covered the song for his self-titled debut album Christian Bautista in 2004 and later the single released on 5 April 2005.

## In popular culture

The song was used for the Michael and Julia characters on the American soap opera Santa Barbara.

