"Hold On Hold Out" is a song written by Jackson Browne and Craig Doerge and performed by American singer-songwriter

Jackson Browne Clyde Jackson Browne (born October 9, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and political activist who has sold over 18 million albums in the United States. Emerging as a precocious teenage songwriter in mid-1960s Los Angeles, he h ...

. It is from his 1980 album ''

Hold Out ''Hold Out'' is the sixth album by American singer-songwriter Jackson Browne, released in 1980 (see 1980 in music). Although critically the album has not been as well received as other Browne recordings, it remains his only album to date to re ...

''. It was released as the third single from the album, but due to its slightly over-eight-minute length, it was released as a "specially priced" 12-inch 45 rpm record (Asylum 11477) instead of the traditional 7-inch 45, Asylum records possibly hoping to repeat the 12-inch airplay success of "

The Load-Out ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Stay Stay may refer to: Places * Stay, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the US Law * Stay of execution, a ruling to temporarily suspend the enforcement of a court judgment * Stay of proceedings, a ruling halting further legal process in a tri ...

" medley from the previous album. However, "Hold On Hold Out" only reached number 103 on the ''

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Bubbling Under Hot 100 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles (also known as Bubbling Under the Hot 100) is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. The chart lists the top songs that have not yet charted on the main ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Chart ...

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JACKSON BROWNE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

History

On the back of the album cover the dedication reads "THIS IS FOR LYNNE." Lynne Sweeney later became Jackson Browne's second wife.

Reception

As a possibly logically extreme conclusion to the

singer/songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted thr ...

confessional trend begun in the early 1970s, critics emphasized this song particularly in their reviews for the album. In the Sept. 4, 1980 issue of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'',

Kit Rachlis Kit Rachlis is an American journalist and editor who has held posts at ''The Village Voice'', '' LA Weekly'', ''Los Angeles Times'', ''Los Angeles'' magazine, ''The American Prospect'', ''The California Sunday Magazine,'' and currently ''ProPubli ...

began his review of the album by drawing attention to the song: "Everything that's right and everything that's wrong about ''Hold Out'' ... can be found in its climax: the spoken confession at the end of the last cut... Eight minutes long, "Hold On Hold Out" is the LP's anthem, its farewell address and would-be summation. With Technicolor clarity, the drive of the drums, the zing of the string synthesizer and the shoulders-thrust-back momentum of the piano jump out at you — big and bright and basic. So the drama is real when the instruments drop back and Browne stops singing and starts speaking. It's a measure of both the grandiosity and simplicity of Browne's intentions that this album comes down to his saying — without the aid of melody or harmony — "I love you." And it's a measure of Hold Out's failure that these words sound flat, forced, even selfish: a meaningful private act made embarrassing by its public expression. Also, the words are a letdown, since they follow the funniest, most heartbreakingly romantic line on the record." Charlie Ricci at Bloggerhythms said in 2011 that the song's "centerpiece was an almost schmaltzy spoken passage in the middle that was very much not the kind of thing Browne normally put on vinyl." William Ruhlmann at

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

said that "'Hold on Hold Out,' the traditional big, long, last song on the album, was awkwardly, not winningly, intimate." ''Classic Rock History'' critic Brian Kachejian rated it as Browne's 4th greatest song, saying that "the beautiful piano introduction and spoken word middle section highlight one of Jackson Browne’s most romantic songs".

Chart positions

Notes

{{authority control 1980 songs Songs written by Jackson Browne Jackson Browne songs 1981 singles Asylum Records singles Songs written by Craig Doerge Song recordings produced by Jackson Browne