Hold on my heart
don’t let her see you crying
No matter where I go
She’ll always be with me
So hold on my heart
Just hold on to that feeling
We both know we’ve been here before
We both know what can happen…
– written and performed by: Mike Rutherford, Tony Banks, Phil Collins aka Genesis
AS USUAL a lot happened over the weekend in “I Am Iloilo City”, mostly political: an ambush assassination, rumblings amongst the provincial government employees over the still not approved provincial annual budget with the fear that they will not receive their due salaries and increases.
If the plan was to derail the projects of Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. and somehow mess up the gubernatorial bid of his son, it backfired. Now what is certain is that 2,000 employees and their families are blaming Ferjie baby for their delayed (with no end in sight?) due salaries and increases.
So these 2,000 provincial government employees and their families will probably express their dismay come election time.
Whoever concocted that plan to stall the budget just shot Ferjie baby in the foot.
And all of the above are quite boring so let’s segue to some more pleasant things to talk about, art, particularly music.
Lately, I’ve been listening to a some ‘80s and ‘90s music. Not all of the music from that era were rubbish; there were some pretty good gems and this particular song and the artist or band that played them are a perfect argument for that.
The ‘80s till the ‘90s saw the development of smooth jazz, glam rock and light progressive rock and we will talk about that genre, particularly a band and one of their songs that has a personal connection to Moi.
From that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
The band is Genesis, an English rock band formed at Charterhouse School, Godalming, and Surrey in 1967. The most successful and longest-lasting line-up consisted of keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford and drummer/singer Phil Collins. Significant former members were guitarist Steve Hackett and original lead singer Peter Gabriel. The band moved from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s, before moving towards pop at the end of the decade. They have sold 21.5 million albums in the United States, with worldwide sales of between 100 million and 150 million.
The band Genesis has two eras in their musical existence; the first one is the Peter Gabriel era and the Phil Collins era.
We are not talking about the Peter Gabriel era; that episode in the band’s existence is best ignored or confined to some corner in the brain where memories you wish to forget are stored.
Let’s put it this way: Peter Gabriel fancies himself as some sort of avante-garde performance artist and musician who seems to have this penchant for performing on stage wearing some elaborate yet silly looking costume.
Too bad he has the pipes to be a straight ahead rocker yet he wasted it with his onstage antics.
Seriously, he’s no Ziggy Stardust or Aladdin Zane, not even close.
And then there’s the Phil Collins era. He started as the drummer of Genesis and eventually became the lead singer and drummer on to a very successful solo career.
That era was characterized with the emergence of light rock ballads, almost romantic love songs. Notable were Separate Lives, Against All Odds, We Never Talk About It, and our feature Hold On My Heart.
From that free online encyclopedia a.k.a. the internet:
“Hold on My Heart” is a 1992 single by English rock band Genesis from their 14th studio album “We Can’t Dance” (1991). It was released as the album’s third single on April 6, 1992. The song was successful in the UK and US, reaching No. 1 on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary and Canadian singles charts, and No. 12 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also peaked at No. 16 on the official UK singles chart.
From songfacts.com:
The song has lyrics which see the protagonist feeling very hesitant to enter into a new romantic relationship with someone new after the sad demise of his previous relationship. The lyrics never make it clear exactly what caused the protagonist’s former love to leave him. Did she die? Did she abandon him? Many fans believe it is the former because of the line in which the protagonist says she’ll be with him no matter where he goes. But whether she abandoned him or died, the bottom line is that the protagonist is devastated because the relationship came to an end. And as a result of the devastation, he feels very reluctant to fall in love again with his new love interest despite his heart wanting so much to be with her.
And this sentimental old fool somehow identifies with the song, having survived a similar very emotional relationship.
A band composition, this poignant song records the thoughts of someone who is hesitant but open to the possibility of loving again after losing someone very dear: “Don’t let her see you crying.” We’re never told what happened to the previous love, but it seems very likely she has died or at the very least is now far away: “She’ll always be with me.”
I’ll end with these lines from Hold On My Heart …
Hold on my heart
Throw me a lifeline
I’ll keep a place for you
Somewhere deep inside./PN
