“Hands Up to the Sky” by Michael Franti & Spearhead

Michael Franti and his wife, Sarah Agah, in the music video for “Hands Up to the Sky”
Credit: MichaelFranti.com

Best known for their reggae-influenced indie rock songs, Michael Franti & Spearhead have never shied away from talking about difficult topics, like the unjust nature of the death penalty, war in the Middle East, environmentalism and human rights. In November of 2023, they released their latest album “Big Big Love,” a tribute to togetherness in response to the Covid pandemic. 

Although every song he writes is infused with passion and meaning, the song “Hands Up to the Sky” is a particularly poignant one, written by Franti after the death of his biological father, Thomas Hopkins. On his website he wrote, “This is such a special song for me. The whole world has experienced a lot of loss the last few years, time apart from loved ones, worry, stress, and I lost my father to Covid. It’s a song of release and letting go of emotions that I’ve perhaps held on to for too long, and it’s a song about finding ease and the triumph of the joy that follows when we come out the other side.” 

I used to think that life was so easy

Had all the time and I gave it out freely

You never know what you have 

Until it’s gone, gone, gone

 

I never used to think ‘bout the ending

Never thought about the light I was bendin’

I didn’t know what I had

Till it was gone, gone, gone

 

So close your eyes

Throw your hands up to the sky

I got my feet here on the ground

While I float on a satellite

And should I die I know love was here tonight

Close your eyes

Throw your hands up, your hands up

Your hands up to the sky

As he explains in a YouTube video, Franti struggled to process the death of his father amidst the social isolation of pandemic lockdown. But when he finally got to see live music again, once the restrictions were lifted, he had a “heart-opening experience.”

“It was a moment when I closed my eyes, put my hands up, started to shout, scream and cry and dance and shake, and sing along to the words. And after about an hour of that … I just felt better,” he said.

Writing “Hands Up to the Sky” was an important part of his healing journey, Franti said, and he wants people going through similar difficulties to know that they’re not alone. It can be incredibly hard to learn how to let go and find joy again after loss. Hopefully, this song can be an inspiration to someone, so they can find that release as well.