Hand to Mouth (song)

"Hand to Mouth"
Song by George Michael
from the album Faith
A-side"Faith"
Released30 October 1987 (1987-10-30)
Recorded1987
StudioSarm West (London)
GenrePop
Length4:05
Label
SongwriterGeorge Michael
ProducerGeorge Michael
Official visualiser
"Hand to Mouth" on YouTube

"Hand to Mouth" is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released as the sixth track on his debut solo studio album, Faith (1987).

Production

Writing

"Hand to Mouth" was written, arranged and produced by George Michael. According to Michael, the genesis of the song began around the time of the Los Angeles freeway shootings in 1987.[1] "What happened was one day there was a trafic jam, this guy got out of his car and blew someone else's brains out. The next day it was in the papers and a week later everyone was doing it," Michael said.[1] Those incidents prompted Michael (who had been in Los Angeles at the time) to start writing a song about "all the bad things happening in America", titled "Gun Control".

The week following Michael's return to England, the Hungerford massacre took place in Wiltshire and Berkshire. Said Michael, "Can you imagine what would've happened if I'd come out with that song?"[1] Instead, he decided to rewrite the song with the sociopolitical situation in the UK and the US in mind.[2] In a 2010 interview with Mark Goodier, Michael confirmed that the song was "all about Thatcher and Reagan really."[3]

Recording

Recording sessions for "Hand to Mouth" took place at Sarm West Studio 2 in Notting Hill, London.[4] The song features a contribution from percussionist Andy Duncan, who was contacted by engineer Chris Porter to propose ideas for the track at Michael's request.[5] Among Duncan's contributions to the song is a bongo drum track, which is present during the outro. According to Duncan, "When I arrived at Studio 2, there was a guide vocal, the keyboard pad was there and the drums were there."[6] The drum machine used on "Hand to Mouth" is a Linn 9000.[6]

Critical reception

In a retrospective review of Faith for The Daily Telegraph, writer Neil McCormick commented on "Hand to Mouth" saying, "Smoothly slipped in among the sex and broken hearts is a slippery song about social conscience, featuring gun-toting vigilantes, desperate prostitutes and starving babies. The theme of faith (or lack of it) resurfaces in a chorus about the 'Gods of America' who 'believe in nothing', leaving the singer praying 'with empty hands'."[7] Reviewing the album for Pitchfork, Ivy Nelson stated that on "Hand to Mouth", Michael displays "an evolving social consciousness that seems inherited directly from Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, characters and their cyclical struggles spilling through a cityscape of wavering synths."[8]

Personnel

Personnel taken from Faith liner notes.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Simper, Paul (14 November 1987). "Faith: GM Speaks". No. 1. No. 230. p. 9. Retrieved 3 July 2026 – via Flickr.
  2. ↑ Horton 2022, p. 60.
  3. ↑ "Mark Goodier Interview with George Michael (2010) | Part 4". GMForever.com. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2025.
  4. ↑ Horton 2022, p. 65.
  5. ↑ Horton 2022, p. 66.
  6. 1 2 Horton 2022, p. 67.
  7. ↑ McCormick, Neil (20 February 2026). "A track-by-track guide to George Michael's Faith, the greatest British album of the 1980s". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Nelson, Ivy (5 August 2018). "George Michael: Faith Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  9. ↑ Faith (Album liner notes). George Michael. 1987.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

Works cited

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.