China in Your Hand

"China in Your Hand"
Single by T'Pau
from the album Bridge of Spies
B-side	"No Sense of Pride"
Released	October 1987 (1987-10)
Format	7", 12"
Label	Siren, Virgin
Writer(s)	Carol Decker, Ron Rogers
Producer	Ron Rogers, Tim Burgess
T'Pau singles chronology
"Heart and Soul" (reissue) (1987) "China in Your Hand" (1987) "Bridge of Spies" (1988)

"China in Your Hand" is a song by British band T'Pau, released from their album Bridge of Spies. A re-recorded version was released as a single in October 1987, spending five weeks at number 1 in the UK and is arguably the song for which the group is best known in their native Britain, though their debut single "Heart and Soul" was a much bigger hit in the United States. "China in Your Hand" was the 600th song to top the UK charts, famously stopping George Harrison's "Got My Mind Set on You" from hitting the top spot.

The song's lyrics refer to the novel Frankenstein and its author Mary Shelley. This is more readily heard on the longer album version of the song, as the re-recorded single edit omits most of the more obvious references to the book. The song's title was more unclear however and when quizzed, co-writer Ron Rogers was unsure of to what it referred. Lyric writer Carol Decker explained that it is the effect that if you hold a china cup to a light, you can see your hand through it - therefore 'china in your hand' means something that is transparent.^[1]

The song is in the key of B-Flat major on the original album version but the radio edit version is slightly sped up to reduce its length resulting in the tuning being mid-way between B-Flat and B Major.

In 2007 the song was featured in a commercial for PG Tips that starred Johnny Vegas alongside his sidekick, Monkey.

Track listing

7" vinyl
Side one

1. "China in Your Hand" (Carol Decker, Ron Rogers) – 4:07

Side two

1. "No Sense of Pride" (T'Pau) – 3:25

12" vinyl
Side one

1. "China in Your Hand" (Full Length Album Version) (5:06)

Side two

1. "China in Your Hand" (Single Version) – 4:07
2. "No Sense of Pride" – 3:25

Chart performance

Chart (1987/1988)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart[2]	5
Belgian Singles Chart	1
Canadian Singles Chart[3]	20
Dutch Singles Chart[4]	1
French Singles Chart[5]	44
West German Singles Chart[6]	2
Irish Singles Chart[7]	1
New Zealand Singles Chart[8]	8
Norwegian Singles Chart[9]	1
Polish Singles Chart	8
South African Singles Chart[10]	12
Swedish Singles Chart[11]	5
Swiss Singles Chart[12]	1
UK Singles Chart[13]	1

See also

• List of number-one singles from the 1980s (UK)
• List of number-one hits in Norway
• List of number-one hits of 1987 (Switzerland)
• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1988

Preceded by "You Win Again" by Bee Gees	UK number-one single 15 November 1987 - 13 December 1987	Succeeded by "Always on My Mind" by Pet Shop Boys
Preceded by "Got My Mind Set on You" by George Harrison	Irish IRMA number-one single 21 November 1987 - 28 November 1987	Succeeded by "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson

References

1. ^ Top 10 of 1987, Channel 4 documentary
2. ^ http://www.austriancharts.at/
3. ^ www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
4. ^ http://www.dutchcharts.nl/
5. ^ http://www.lescharts.com/
6. ^ http://www.musicline.de/
7. ^ http://www.irishcharts.ie/
8. ^ http://www.charts.org.nz/
9. ^ http://www.norwegiancharts.com/
10. ^ http://www.rock.co.za/
11. ^ http://www.swedishcharts.com/
12. ^ http://www.swisscharts.com/
13. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/