Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
They hung a sign up in our town
"If you live it up, you won't live it down"
So she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun
With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip
Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind
Said, "don't look back, just come on, Jim"
Oh, you got to hold on, hold on
You gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
Well, he gave her a dimestore watch
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone's looking for someone to blame
When you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said, "baby, I still love you"
Sometimes there's nothin' left to do
Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on and take my hand
I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
Well, God bless your crooked little heart
St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken China voice
How I wish you were still here with me
Oh, you build it up, you wreck it down
Then you burn your mansion to the ground
Oh, there's nothing left to keep you here
But when you're falling behind in this big blue world
Oh, you've got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
Down by the Riverside motel
It's ten below and falling
By a ninety-nine cent store
She closed her eyes and started swaying
But it's so hard to dance that way
When it's cold and there's no music
Oh, your old hometown's so far away
But inside your head there's a record that's playing
A song called "Hold On", hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
And take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
And take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, baby
You gotta hold on, girl
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
"If you live it up, you won't live it down"
So she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun
With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip
Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind
Said, "don't look back, just come on, Jim"
Oh, you got to hold on, hold on
You gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
Well, he gave her a dimestore watch
And a ring made from a spoon
Everyone's looking for someone to blame
When you share my bed, you share my name
Well, go ahead and call the cops
You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops
She said, "baby, I still love you"
Sometimes there's nothin' left to do
Oh, but you got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on and take my hand
I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
Well, God bless your crooked little heart
St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken China voice
How I wish you were still here with me
Oh, you build it up, you wreck it down
Then you burn your mansion to the ground
Oh, there's nothing left to keep you here
But when you're falling behind in this big blue world
Oh, you've got to hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
Down by the Riverside motel
It's ten below and falling
By a ninety-nine cent store
She closed her eyes and started swaying
But it's so hard to dance that way
When it's cold and there's no music
Oh, your old hometown's so far away
But inside your head there's a record that's playing
A song called "Hold On", hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right there, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
And take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, hold on
Babe, you gotta hold on
And take my hand, I'm standing right here, you gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on, baby
You gotta hold on, girl
You gotta hold on
You gotta hold on
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
Hold On Lyrics as written by Thomas Alan Waits Kathleen Brennan
Lyrics © JALMA MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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MardyAss, "You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops" is the man excusing his bad treatment of the woman. He's saying "Yes i've treated you badly, but you can't have been worth much in the first place because you were easy to win." It's the idea that a woman who gives love freely is not as worthy as one who plays hard to get, coupled with the pragmatic view that if she was easy to get she'll be easy to keep. A possession that was expensive or hard to acquire is cherished for the effort in getting it, partly to prove to oneself that it was worth the cost. He's treating her as a cheap possession: "he gave her a dime-store watch and a ring made from a spoon."
It's also how other people will view the situation; "the cops" for example. She's burst out of her small town with ideals of love, life and freedom, and now she's been exploited and cheated she'll find that those things are privileges that society does not grant to everyday losers.
@azkm Hoo man, long time lurker, first post because of this. Your post just seemed so brash, as if you've no experience outside of city life/ suburbia. All the man has in his life is a woman that he's fallen for and his podunk town that he will not be leaving anytime soon. His body may go somewhere, but his mind is stuck in that town, while she is ready for all intents and purposes to move onto greener pastures. <br /> <br /> "he gave her a dime-store watch and a ring made from a spoon."<br /> You are really overthinking this line. This is the extent of the things this man had. He's poor. He wants desperately to be enough for this woman, but cannot fulfill her expectations and wants. Thus the cognitive dissonance sets in. He starts to think to himself that she wasn't worth it anyways. But the cognitive dissonance isn't enough, he still can't let her go.<br /> <br /> Leads us to, "You don't meet nice girls in coffee shops."<br /> <br /> I see that this was posted in 2009 when entitled feminism and all that was beginning to get trendy, but what is it in the song that shows he treated this woman poorly? Perhaps, "go ahead and call the cops," can be misconstrued as him harassing her in some way shape or form, but the lines right after that seem to be pretty calm and collected. I don't see any wrongdoing directly from the song and thus why would we take it negatively?. She told this man she didn't want to be with him the way he wanted to and he was upset. He wants her to hold on. But she won't. No one is to blame. It's a sad song about a man coping with his inadequacies. Not about a poor woman who is being treated poorly by a womanizing man. Hopefully you've gotten out of this phase in your life, it's toxic.