Hands (Jewel song)

"Hands"
Single by Jewel Kilcher
from the album Spirit
B-side	"Innocence Maintained" "Enter From The East (Acoustic)"
Released	November 1998
Recorded	1998
Genre	Folk, pop rock
Length	3:47 (radio edit) 3:54 (album version)
Label	Atlantic
Writer(s)	Jewel Kilcher Patrick Leonard
Producer(s)	Atlantic
Jewel Kilcher singles chronology
"Morning Song" (1997) "Hands" (1998) "Down So Long" (1999)

"Hands" is the first single released from Jewel Kilcher's second album, Spirit (1998). A "Christmas version" of the song appears on Joy: A Holiday Collection.

No commercial single was ever issued in the United States, and the singles that were issued internationally received the album version. The radio edit can be found only on promos for the single. Even without a physical release, the song still reached number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and the video reached #1 on VH1's Top 10 Countdown.

Music video

The video, directed by Nick Brandt, begins with Jewel driving along on a rainy night when she comes across emergency workers responding to a collapsed apartment building. She gets out of her car and stands with the crowd looking at the rubble and notices other onlookers walking away in horror and hopelessness. She follows others into the rubble and helps dig through the rubble for survivors, finding a man, alive, under the rubble and later three young children trapped inside a room. Throughout the whole video, she remains calm and collected, full of hope, as chaos ensues around her.

She explains the idea behind the video in an interview in 1998:

"I think the director just wanted to picture an earthquake. That gave the video a somber feel to the aftermath of the disaster."

September 11 remix

Right after 9/11, a DJ remixed the song which was carried on stations across the country. Jewel was in the mountains with her longtime boyfriend, Ty Murray, during the attack, and she first heard this version on the radio a few days later—it was one of the first things she heard. She spoke of this experience at a Borders concert in Ann Arbor, MI prior to the release of Perfectly Clear.

Jewel appeared on Late Show with David Letterman just days after the tragedy, on Tuesday, September 18, 2001, and performed this song instead of the previously scheduled "Standing Still."

This song is also used during Rachel's Challenge.

Charts

Peak positions Chart (1998/1999-2010) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[1] 25 Canada (RPM)[2] 1 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[3] 83 France (SNEP)[4] 96 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[5] 27 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[6] 35 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[7] 19 Japan (Tokio Hot 100) 3 Scotland (Scottish Singles Chart) 35 Poland (ZPAV)[8] 38 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[9] 41 US Billboard Hot 100[10] 6 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[11] 7 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[12] 4 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[13] 2 US Radio Songs (Billboard)[14] 3

End of year charts End of year chart (1999) Position U.S. Billboard Hot 100[15] 54

Cover Versions

In 2016, the song was covered by country singer Trisha Yearwood for the US version of the musical The Passion.

References

1. "Australian-charts.com – Jewel – Hands". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
2. "Canadian RPM magazine peak". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2013-02-24.
3. European Hot 100 www.billboard.com
4. "Lescharts.com – Jewel – Hands" (in French). Les classement single. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
5. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Jewel search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
6. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jewel – Hands" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
7. "Charts.org.nz – Jewel – Hands". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
8. "Lista Przebojów Trójki - Polskie Radio Online". Lp3.polskieradio.pl. Retrieved 2014-01-12.
9. "Jewel: Artist Chart History" Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
10. "Jewel – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Jewel. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
11. "Jewel – Chart history" Billboard Adult Contemporary for Jewel. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
12. "Jewel – Chart history" Billboard Pop Songs for Jewel. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
13. "Jewel – Chart history" Billboard Adult Pop Songs for Jewel. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
14. "Jewel – Chart history" Billboard Radio Songs for Jewel. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
15. "Billboard Top 100 - 1999". Retrieved 2010-08-28.