"How Can We Hang On to a Dream" is a song composed and recorded by

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...

. It was Hardin's first single after his signed with

Verve Folkways Verve Forecast is a record label formed as a division of Verve Records to concentrate on pop, rock, and folk music. Founding Jerry Schoenbaum of Verve and Moe Asch of Folkways created Verve Folkways in 1964 to take advantage of the popularity ...

, released around six months before his debut album ''

Tim Hardin 1 ''Tim Hardin 1'' is the debut album by folk artist Tim Hardin, released in 1966 on Verve Records. History ''Tim Hardin 1'' contains one of his most well-known and frequently covered songs, "Reason to Believe"a notable hit for Rod Stewart in 1971. ...

''. The single was titled "Hang On to a Dream" in some territories. The song has been successfully covered by many artists, including charting versions by

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

and

Rudy Bennett The Motions were a Dutch band from The Hague founded in 1964 and active until 1970. The lead singer was Rudy Bennett, with Robbie van Leeuwen on guitar, Henk Smitskamp on bass guitar, and Sieb Warner on drums. They were the first Nederbeat band t ...

. Hardin's own version reached No. 50 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the Netherlands, where the

Dutch Top 40 The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veronica ...

chart aggregated Hardin's version with a cover by the Dutch singer Rudy Bennett as one entry, the song reached No. 4 in 1987.

Charts

Covers

Many covers of the song have been recorded by prominent artists of the age, including a 1969 psychedelic rock recording by the short-lived band

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a Wizards (Middle-earth), wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring (characters), Fellowship of t ...

. A cover version with a choral arrangement by

Duncan Browne Duncan John Browne (25 March 1947 – 28 May 1993) was an English singer-songwriter and musician. He is most remembered for his moderate hit single "Journey," which peaked at No. 23 in the U.K in 1972, and its corresponding 1973 album Duncan B ...

was recorded by

The Nice The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band. The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jack ...

, as "Hang On to a Dream", on their third album, ''

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

'',

Ian & Sylvia Ian & Sylvia were a Canadian folk and country music duo which consisted of Ian and Sylvia Tyson, née Fricker. They began performing together in 1959 (full-time in 1961), married in 1964, and divorced and stopped performing together in 1975. Hi ...

also as "Hang On to a Dream" on their album ''Long Long Time'', and

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

on '' Snakes 'N' Ladders'' (1989). A closer cover version was performed by

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

on a 1969 BBC recording, released on ''

Live at the BBC {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Live at the BBC or BBC Recordings are recordings originally made for or by BBC Radio 1. Many recordings were released under several name variants. Live at the BBC *Live at the BBC (The Beatles ...

'' in 2001.

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

covered it on ''

The Return of the Manticore The Return of the Manticore is a 4-disc retrospective on the career of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer. It was released in 1993, and features several new recordings of previously released songs, most notably a studio recording of "Pictures at an ...

''.

The Lemonheads The Lemonheads are an American alternative rock band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1986 by Evan Dando, Ben Deily, and Jesse Peretz. Dando has remained the band's only constant member. After their initial punk-influenced releases and tour ...

released a cover of the track as a bonus addition to online editions of their 2009 covers album ''

Varshons ''Varshons'' is the ninth studio album and is an album of covers by alternative rock band the Lemonheads. On 27 March 2009, it was announced that ''Varshons'' would be released in the US on 23 June on The End Records. It was promoted with a US t ...

''. '' Life of Riley: The Lightning Seeds Collection'' includes a cover version of the song.

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

with

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

recorded two complete versions of the song (on April 5, 1969, and July 5, 1969). Both versions remained unissued until the late 2014 UK Esoteric 2-CD boxset of ''

The Magnificent Moodies ''The Magnificent Moodies'' is the 1965 debut album by The Moody Blues, first released in the UK, and the first and only album featuring their R&B line-up of guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, keyboardist Mike Pinder, flautist–p ...

''.

Kathryn Williams Kathryn Williams (born 15 February 1974, Liverpool, England) is an English singer-songwriter who to date has released 14 studio albums, written and arranged for a multitude of artists, and was nominated for the 2000 Mercury Music Prize. Willi ...

recorded a cover version on her album '' Relations''. The English

Romo Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia ...

band

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

contributed a cover version to the ''Fever Pitch E.P.'' which was released to accompany the soundtrack. The Dutch singer

had a hit with the song in 1967, reaching No. 5 on the Dutch charts.

recorded a French version in London in 1967, as "Je m'accroche à mon rêve", with French lyrics by Georges Aber. This version reached No. 4 on the Belgian Walloon chart.

Françoise Hardy Françoise Madeleine Hardy (; born 17 January 1944) is a French former singer and songwriter. Mainly known for singing melancholic sentimental ballads, Hardy has been an important figure in French pop music since her debut, spanning a career of ...

recorded the song for her album ''En Anglais'' under the title "Hang On to a Dream".

Popular usage

Hardin's version appeared on the soundtracks to the 1997 British film ''

Fever Pitch ''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: ''Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and ''Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", but ...

'' and the 2000 German film ''

The State I Am In ''Tigermilk'' is the 1996 debut album from Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian. Originally given a limited release (1,000 copies) by Electric Honey, the album was subsequently re-released in 1999 by Jeepster Records. The album is name ...

''. It was also used in the 1987 Dutch film '' Zoeken naar Eileen'' which led to the song's reappearance on the Dutch chart.

References

{{Authority control 1969 songs Tim Hardin songs Songs written by Tim Hardin Song recordings produced by Erik Jacobsen