Healing Hands (song)
"Healing Hands" | ||||
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Single by Elton John | ||||
from the album Sleeping with the Past | ||||
B-side | "Dancing in the End Zone" (first release) "Sacrifice" (second release) |
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Released | 1989 (first release) 1990 (second release) |
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Genre | Pop rock[1] | |||
Length | 4:21 | |||
Label | Rocket (UK) MCA (US) |
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Writer(s) | Elton John Bernie Taupin |
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Producer(s) | Chris Thomas[2] | |||
Elton John singles chronology | ||||
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"Healing Hands" was the final Billboard Hot 100 hit single of the 1980s for Elton John, written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin and recorded on his million-selling 1989 album Sleeping with the Past. The single was released during the late-summer of 1989, and was a top-twenty hit in the US. It was paired as a double A-side single with "Sacrifice", which became Elton's first solo number 1 single in the UK.[3] The song was inspired by the Four Tops song "Reach Out, I'll Be There".[4] Produced by Chris Thomas, it was the first of three singles released from the album, with the follow-ups being "Sacrifice" and "Club at the End of the Street".
"Healing Hands" did moderately well as a single in the United States, climbing to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reaching #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart the week of October 21, 1989 (dislodging Madonna's "Cherish" from the #1 position). The song failed to make the UK Top 40 on its initial release, as did the follow-up, "Sacrifice". However, after Steve Wright of BBC Radio One added "Sacrifice" to his station's playlist, "Sacrifice" was re-released in the UK with "Healing Hands" as the flip side. The double A-side record topped the UK chart for five weeks starting June 23, 1990, becoming the first solo #1 UK hit of Elton John's career.
Technical details
Musically, the song is complex,[citation needed] with the intro and verses in the key of B flat, and the chorus in the key of D. An instrumental solo, in the related minor key of g (minor), serves as a bridge. Rob Stevens also sang the song on his debut album, Little Heart for Love.
References
- "Healing Hands", The Billboard Book of Number One Adult Contemporary Hits by Wesley Hyatt, p. 352, Billboard Books (1999).
External links
Preceded by | Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one single October 21, 1989 |
Succeeded by "Don't Know Much" by Linda Ronstadt featuring Aaron Neville |
- Articles with unsourced statements from July 2011
- Elton John songs
- 1989 songs
- 1989 singles
- Songs with music by Elton John
- Songs with lyrics by Bernie Taupin
- Song recordings produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)
- Billboard Adult Contemporary number-one singles
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- MCA Records singles
- The Rocket Record Company singles