Chances

The song Chances, released by Roxette on December 28, 1988, was the first international single taken from their second album, Look Sharp!. Although it was released in 7" and 12" vinyl formats exclusively in West Germany, France, and Italy, it did not manage to chart in those countries. Curiously, two weeks later, The Look, another track from the same album, became their major international hit. Musically, Chances is defined as a pop rock piece, but it incorporates elements that evoke hard rock and industrial pop. The album version has a duration of four minutes and fifty-seven seconds, while the single edition is fifty seconds shorter.

The composition is developed in the key of E minor, with a 4/4 time signature and an allegro moderato tempo of 118 beats per minute. The initial sequence is based on two repetitions of E♭–D♭–B♭–C♯, and each verse and pre-chorus uses two sequences of E minor–D–B minor–C. The chorus is built on two repetitions of E minor–C–G–D, followed by an extended sequence of A minor–B minor–E minor–C–G–D. The basic chord structure of the first half of the bridge, where a guitar solo plays, consists of two repetitions of F minor–D♭–A♭–E♭, followed by a single sequence of B♭–F minor–C minor. Upon finishing the guitar solo, the rest of the bridge features a recurring pattern of F–F minor–C minor–F minor–D♭, followed by an abbreviated sequence of F minor–C minor–A♭ minor.

The recording of Chances took place in June 1988 at Trident II Studios in London, and it was one of three tracks from the album Look Sharp! produced by Adam Moseley. The choice of this track as the first international single by EMI Germany, on December 28, 1988, was due, according to Per Gessle, more to it being an English song than to it being the best one. The single included as a B-side a demo version of Silver Blue, which would later appear re-recorded on the 1992 album Tourism. A music video was also produced, directed by Jeroen Kamphoff, which alternated concert footage in color with black and white scenes shot in a casino.

In them, Marie Fredriksson appeared as a Black Jack and roulette dealer, while Gessle played a gambler. All songs on the album were written and composed by Per Gessle.