Ab major · Camelot 4B · 128 BPM
Hands to Heaven
by Breathe
- 128
- BPM
- Ab major
- Key
- 4B
- Camelot
- 55
- Danceability
- 25
- Acousticness
"Hands to Heaven" reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart in August 1988, nearly a year after its October 1987 release as the fifth UK single by the English band Breathe. Written by group members David Glasper and Marcus Lillington and produced by Bob Sargeant, the ballad appeared on the band's debut studio album, All That Jazz. A&M Records issued it in the United States the following year as the band's second single there, and it went on to become Breathe's breakthrough international hit.
The American performance was strong. The single spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1988, the same month it peaked in Britain, and also reached No. 2 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. Beyond those two countries, the song placed in the top 10 in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.
The music video, directed by Eamon McCabe, placed the band in a surreal, dreamlike sequence. It opens with lead singer David Glasper falling asleep in the back of a black London taxicab, after which the visuals drift among blurred city streets, the cab interior, and softly lit performance settings. The muted palette and reflective cinematography carried the song's themes of longing and romantic separation. The video ends with Glasper waking in the cab and being driven away by the same driver, closing the loop. The B-side of the single was an instrumental track called "Life and Times".
Hands to Heaven runs at 128 BPM, the tempo of house, disco and most club dance music. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.88 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 469 ms. It is in Ab major, Camelot 4B, which shares its notes with F minor and mixes cleanly with Db major and Eb major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.