Kerry Livgren became a Christian just around the time this album was recorded. He pinned the core lyrics with Steve Walsh contributing with him.
Steve was not a Christian and Kerry’s newfound zeal as a new believer annoyed him as his lyrics became more reflective of his beliefs. Eventually, Steve left Kansas over this issue. He didn’t feel it was the same band.
The song is, on its surface, about the enormity of facing a new spiritual reality and worrying that it might be more than you can accept and commit to. In the end, it is a self reassurance that you are not doing it alone, others have gone before and they all arrived following the same path (Christ).
Kerry was super-zealous (common with new believers) and desperately wanted his wife, Victoria Carpenter, to “do what he did”. He asked her to “just try it” (my summations here), and during this time he wrote, Hold On, hoping she would stick with it.
She did, though it was a more gradual process for her. They married in 1975, have children and are believers and still together.
Kerry had a stroke in 2008 and his family maintains his website for official information. The stroke primarily affected the language portion of his brain.
Ironically, I was going through the biggest spiritual struggle of my life as a Christian and regularly listening to Kansas as all the band stuff was going on. Twin sons of different mothers.
Kerry Livgren became a Christian just around the time this album was recorded. He pinned the core lyrics with Steve Walsh contributing with him.
Steve was not a Christian and Kerry’s newfound zeal as a new believer annoyed him as his lyrics became more reflective of his beliefs. Eventually, Steve left Kansas over this issue. He didn’t feel it was the same band.
The song is, on its surface, about the enormity of facing a new spiritual reality and worrying that it might be more than you can accept and commit to. In the end, it is a self reassurance that you are not doing it alone, others have gone before and they all arrived following the same path (Christ).
Kerry was super-zealous (common with new believers) and desperately wanted his wife, Victoria Carpenter, to “do what he did”. He asked her to “just try it” (my summations here), and during this time he wrote, Hold On, hoping she would stick with it.
She did, though it was a more gradual process for her. They married in 1975, have children and are believers and still together.
Kerry had a stroke in 2008 and his family maintains his website for official information. The stroke primarily affected the language portion of his brain.
Ironically, I was going through the biggest spiritual struggle of my life as a Christian and regularly listening to Kansas as all the band stuff was going on. Twin sons of different mothers.
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