Songfacts®:

• This is a song about the painful and apathetic feelings of love and loss. Interpol lead singer Paul Banks doesn't provide many clues to his lyrics, so it's unclear what the title means - it's probably something quite different than what the Pointer Sisters sang about.
  
  "For me, that term could be for lovers and there's also some assassin motifs in there, Banks told The Guardian in 2024 about the song title. "A steady, precise hand."
• "Slow Hands" was the first single from Interpol's sophomore album Antics, which like their first album Turn on the Bright Lights, was produced by Peter Katis. They received critical acclaim for not just copying, but for actually building upon their debut album and creating a more mature record.
  
  This song is a great example of a track on Antics that combined Paul Banks' sometimes bleak lyrics with uplifting, elegant melodies and harmonies. He explained to Flaunt: "I think there's a lot on this record that's so pure. I couldn't have done anything more pure, lyrically."
• This song can be heard quite a bit in various media. TV series to use it include the teen drama, Gilmore Girls (the Season 5 epidode "Tippecanoe and Taylor, Too"), Entourage (Season 2, "My Maserati Does 185") and Veronica Mars (Season 1, "An Echolls Family Christmas").
  
  The tune can also be heard in the video games True Crime: New York City, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and Rocksmith.
• In 2008, this was used in a commercial starring Josh Hartnett for the Armani cologne Diamonds for Men.