Hold Onto Me

@dontwaitforme I take this song to be more a ballad Derek wrote for his daughter. Explanation below.<br /> <br /> "I know I’ve got my problems and it starts with me<br /> She saw something inside that I can’t see<br /> And late at night, yeah she'll comfort me<br /> Hold onto me, hold onto me"<br /> <br /> He knows that he has issues but his daughter does not see the same flaws he sees. Rather, she loves him no matter what is happening because he is her father. He is comforted by her love and asks for her to always hold on to her perfect image of him.<br /> <br /> "I got a nervous habit and I drink too much<br /> She said she hates her life and wants to change her ways<br /> She wakes in the night and whispers<br /> Oh so quiet<br /> Hold onto me, hold onto me<br /> Don't you ever leave, Don't you ever leave<br /> I know I've got my problems and it's probably me<br /> So hold onto me, hold onto me"<br /> <br /> Saying she hates her life is metaphorical for a baby crying and fussing in the middle of the night. Waking in the night is, again, like a child becoming agitated in which they then ask for a parent to hold onto them and comfort them and not let go.<br /> <br /> The last two lines could be either the father returning back to his admitting he has problems and facing those issues or his daughter acknowledging that she may be a pain always waking him in the night but asking for his forgiveness because they love one another.<br /> <br /> "Stayed up too late and it hurts to breathe<br /> Said it's 4 A.M., girl go back to sleep<br /> Sometimes at night I can hear her dreams<br /> Come rescue me, Come rescue me<br /> Don't you ever leave, Don't you ever leave<br /> I know we got our problems and it's probably me<br /> So hold onto me, hold onto me"<br /> <br /> Again, his daughter is awake in the middle of the night and he asks her to try and sleep. Saying he can hear her dreams goes back to how a toddler fusses in the night. Asking to be rescued related to how young children call for their parents when they have nightmares and need to be comforted. The child asks “don’t you ever leave” because they want to continue to feel safe. And again, the last two lines could be the father admitting he can cause issues between the two with his bad habits or the child realizing that her needed her father so late takes a toll on both of them. Either way, they still ask for the other to hold on to them as they always have<br /> <br /> "I'm a drifter's body in an open sea<br /> And I've seen my reflection staring right back at me<br /> With no place to go and you're left all alone<br /> There's no place like home"<br /> <br /> Here, Derek is saying he knows he is gone very often with tours, a body (him) in an open sea, being either a crowd or even the world. He’s seen his reflection staring right back at him is saying there have been times where he has asked himself if traveling so much is worth the pain it brings him. The last two lines talk about when he isn’t around. Since he isn’t there to take his daughter out of the house which forces her to stay home, he thinks there’s no place like home because it’s exactly where he belongs for his and for her sake.<br /> <br /> "Hold onto me, hold onto me<br /> Just stay with me, Just stay with me<br /> I know we got our problems and you'll probably leave<br /> So hold onto me, hold onto me<br /> I could never leave, I will never leave<br /> So hold onto me, hold on to me"<br /> <br /> He then again says for her to hold onto him and to stay with him. He knows that she will grow up faster than he can imagine and he begs for her to stay his for as long as she can. Saying he knows they’ve got their problems and she’ll probably leave refers to when she will eventually grow older and not always agree with his parenting, causing her to move away when she’s eighteen, whether for college or something else, and maybe after that too. Then, he pleads again for her to stay his little girl.<br /> <br /> The last two lines could be from his perspective or hers. If he was saying these lines, it would be him saying that he could never stay away from her for long and him promising to never abandon her. It then ends with a final request for her to always love him. If looked at from her perspective, it goes back a few lines and is her disagreeing and saying that she could never leave him no matter what problems there may be. She then asks for him to continue to love her, protect her, and care for her as he always has.