Touched By The Hand of God

Our next ‘Travelling‘ entry is an imaginary single with an asterisk attached, because ‘Touched By The Hand Of God‘ actually came remarkably close to becoming one.

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“…you’re doing so well outta charm school…”

“This was the title track of Roxette’s ‘Charm School’ album but it never made the record.”
Per Gessle, ‘Songs, Sketches and Reflections’, quoted by The Daily Roxette, 2015

Its story began several years earlier under a completely different name…

Per wrote ‘Charm School‘, recording the T&A Demo in September 2009. The song was originally intended to become the title track of Roxette’s 2011 comeback album, but despite several attempts during the sessions, the finished Roxette recording simply wasn’t working. The song was shelved, while its title survived and became the name of the album instead.

Per wasn’t ready to give up on it though. When Roxette began putting together ‘Travelling‘, they returned to the track, re-recording it with a different production approach and giving it a brand new title: ‘Touched By The Hand Of God‘, and thank goodness they did.

The finished version is one of the most energetic tracks on ‘Travelling‘, packed with guitars, overlapping Per and Marie vocals and one of those huge Gessle choruses that sounds immediately built for radio. TDR’s original album review was virtually unanimous, calling it everything from “a killer” to “one of Roxette’s best uptempo songs in years“. Not bad for another left-over.

In May 2012, Per announced that ‘Touched By The Hand Of God‘ would indeed become the next single, with Germany particularly keen on the song. Promotional copies followed, but the planned full commercial release never properly materialised and no video was made.

Per himself was already expressing frustration with EMI’s lack of promotion when TDR interviewed him in Cape Town that June. Ultimately, the commercial release was replaced by the Bassflow remix of ‘The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye‘.

Should ‘Touched By The Hand Of God‘ have been given a proper single release? Absolutely.

Fast, ridiculously catchy and unmistakably Roxette, it’s difficult to understand how a song originally considered important enough to name an album after ended up slipping through the cracks twice.

For #ROX40, we’re finally giving it the single moment it should have had.

★ Currently on Streaming
01 Charm School (T&A Demo, Sep 10, 2009)
02 Touched By The Hand of God (Album Version)
03 Charm School (T&A Demo, Sep 10, 2009) – In Conversation with Sven Lindström

★ Missing from Streaming
– Original ‘Charm School’ Roxette studio recording*

*Recorded during the ‘Charm School’ sessions but never officially released.