Human Touch (Bruce Springsteen song)

"Human Touch" is a song recorded by the American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was the first single from his tenth studio album of the same name and was released on March 9, 1992. The song features Randy Jackson on bass guitar, and Toto's Jeff Porcaro on drums. In the United States, the song reached number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100—charting as a double A-side single with "Better Days"—and topped the Mainstream Rock chart for three weeks.^[4]

"Human Touch"
Single by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Human Touch
B-side	"Souls of the Departed"
Released	March 9, 1992 (1992-03-09)[1]
Studio	A&M (Hollywood, California)[2]
Genre	Rock[3]
Length	6:28 5:09 (radio edit)
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)	Roy Bittan Jon Landau Chuck Plotkin Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology
"Sad Eyes" (1990) "Human Touch" (1992) "Better Days" (1992)
Music video
"Human Touch" on YouTube

The song reached number one in Denmark, Italy, Norway, and Spain and was a top-10 hit in several other countries, including Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. "Human Touch" was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 1993 Grammy Awards. The music video, directed by Meiert Avis, received an MTV Video Music Awards nomination for Best Male Video.

Track listings

US and European 7" / CD single^[5]

1. "Human Touch" – 6:30
2. "Better Days" – 4:08

US and European 12" / CD maxi-single^[6]

1. "Human Touch" – 6:30
2. "Better Days" – 4:08
3. "Souls of the Departed" – 4:16

European 12" / CD maxi-single^[7]

1. "Human Touch" – 4:08
2. "Souls of the Departed" – 4:16
3. "Long Goodbye" – 3:26

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:^[8]

• Bruce Springsteen – vocals, guitar
• Randy Jackson – bass
• Jeff Porcaro – drums, tambourine
• Roy Bittan – keyboards
• Patti Scialfa – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for "Human Touch" Chart (1992) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[9] 17 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10] 19 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11] 3 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[12] 2 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[13] 6 Denmark (IFPI)[14] 1 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[15] 2 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] 4 France (SNEP)[17] 20 Germany (GfK)[18] 15 Ireland (IRMA)[19] 4 Italy (Musica e dischi)[20] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[21] 5 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[22] 3 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[23] 12 Norway (VG-lista)[24] 1 Portugal (AFP)[20] 2 Spain (AFYVE)[25] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 4 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[27] 4 UK Singles (OCC)[28] 11 US Billboard Hot 100[29] with "Better Days" 16 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[30] 8 US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[31] 1

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for "Human Touch" Chart (1992) Position Belgium (Ultratop)[32] 63 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[33] 13 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[34] 62 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[35] 31 Germany (Media Control)[36] 89 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[37] 86 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[38] 75 Sweden (Topplistan)[39] 42

Certifications

Certifications for "Human Touch"

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[40]	Gold	35,000‡
Norway (IFPI Norway)[41]	Gold
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one hits in Norway
• List of number-one mainstream rock hits (United States)