"China in Your Hand" is a song by English pop group T'Pau from their debut studio album, Bridge of Spies (1987). A re-recorded version was released as a single in October 1987, spending five weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart. "China in Your Hand" was the 600th single to top the UK chart. The song also reached number one in Belgium, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 11th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV, and in 2017 was chosen by The Daily Telegraph as one of the 21 best power ballads.

Background 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 its source material. 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.Top 10 of 1987, Channel 4 documentary In a segment on the BBC1's The One Show on 6 March 2014, Carol Decker explained that she had been holding a china tea cup belonging to Ronnie Rogers' mother in her hand while washing up and had felt a lump in the bottom. She held the cup to the light and saw an image of a young woman in the base of the cup. Decker had the cup with her and showed the viewers the image.

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 midway between B-Flat and B Major.

Other versions In 2011, contestant Amelia Lily performed the song on series 8 of UK's The X Factor. Judge Gary Barlow said it was "nice to hear the song being sung in tune for once", in mockery of Decker, who reacted to the comment via Twitter. Barlow later apologised.

British synthwave band Gunship released a cover for the song in December 2024, featuring Tim Cappello.

Track listings 7-inch single A. "China in Your Hand" (Carol Decker, Ron Rogers) – 4:07 (Sax solo by Gary Barnacle: guitarist Dean Howard) B. "No Sense of Pride" (T'Pau) – 3:25

12-inch single A1. "China in Your Hand" (album version) (5:06) B1. "China in Your Hand" (single edit) – 4:07 B2. "No Sense of Pride" – 3:25

Charts

Weekly charts + Weekly chart performance for "China in Your Hand" Chart (1987–1988) Peakposition Australia (Kent Music Report) 53 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 2 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista) 4 Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 10) 1 South Africa (Springbok Radio) 12

Year-end charts + 1987 year-end chart performance for "China in Your Hand" Chart (1987) Position UK Singles (Gallup) 5

+ 1988 year-end chart performance for "China in Your Hand" Chart (1988) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 21 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) 65 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 44 Netherlands (Single Top 100) 44 New Zealand (RIANZ) 47 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) 11 West Germany (Media Control) 36

Certifications

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

References

External links