Music Review: Breathe "Hands To Heaven"

Breathe

Hands To Heaven

Album: All That Jazz

Year:  1987

         David Glasper has a difficult time leaving his girlfriend in the graceful           “Hands To Heaven.”

                Morose synths open the single, setting a final tone. She steps over a couple boxes and finds a photo of them. She asks him if it’s ok if she keeps it. He walks over to her, puts his hands around her waist and his head on her shoulder. She rests her head on his cheek. He says he will miss their moments. His suitcases surround their apartment. He would like to make time stop and stay. However, tomorrow morning, she will join him and his family on the way to the airport. It’s going to take all he has not to run out of line as he boards and head back home. (“As I watch you move, across the moonlit room/There's so much tenderness in your loving/Tomorrow I must leave, the dawn knows no reprieve/God give me strength when I am leaving.”)

            In the pre-chorus, he asks her to have hope. It has to be temporary. (“So raise your hands to heaven and pray/That we'll be back together someday.”)

            In the chorus, he tells her he has to have one last night with her. He can concentrate on her and she will silence his fears about dying. (“Tonight, I need your sweet caress/Hold me in the darkness/Tonight, you calm my restlessness/You relieve my sadness.”)

           Her lips are trembling and her shoulder is wet from her sobs. He tells her over and over that she’s the one person he loves. He coughs and the knots in his stomach strangle him. He wishes she could be with him at his bedside every day. (“As we move to embrace, tears run down your face/I whisper words of love, so softly/I can't believe this pain, it's driving me insane/Without your touch, life will be lonely.”)

           The pre-chorus is sung again.

            The chorus is sung twice.

             In the bridge, the montonous buzz from the alarm wakes him up. He tells her it’s time to get up. As he gets ready, he does one final checklist to make sure he has everything. (“Morning has come, another day/I must pack my bags and say goodbye, goodbye.”)

             The chorus is sung twice to end the single.

               Glasper’s vulnerable vocals long for some more time.  He's willing to bargain whatever he has if that's what it takes. He’s scared for what could happen to him. She can’t afford to stay with him throughout his treatment. She has a job and a life. He can’t expect her to drop everything.

          The heartbreaking “Hands To Heaven” tries to find sense within the tragedy.