Hold On Tight (Electric Light Orchestra song)


"Hold On Tight" is a song written and performed by Electric Light Orchestra. The song is track twelve on the band's 1981 album Time and was the first song released as a single. The song went top ten in most countries, hitting the top spot in Spain and Switzerland, number two in Germany, number four in the UK, and number ten on the US Billboard Hot 100, as well as number two on the US Billboard Top Tracks chart the week of 12 September 1981. A verse sung in French, which is a reprise of the first verse, translates as "Hang on to your dream, Hang on to your dream, When you see your boat leaving, When you feel your heart breaking, Hang on to your dream".

Music video

At the time, the song's music video was the most expensive ever made, with a budget of approximately £40,000. The mostly black and white video features footage of ELO playing the song in a lounge, intercut with scenes in the style of 1940s serial films featuring the band members, including violinist Mik Kaminski, who was no longer a band member nor had actually played on this song, playing a guitar.

Critical reaction

This was one of the songs Rolling Stone magazine called a "near-perfect Top-Forty spurt", with its "synthesized rock & roll cellos" but complained that the music was so light that ELO could "end up becoming the kind of cheese that squirts out of an aerosol can."

Uses in other media

It was the theme song for the National Coffee Association's "Join the Coffee Achievers" television commercials which ran in 1983 and 1984.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts