"Holdin'" is a song written by Kelly Garrett and

Craig Wiseman Craig Michael Wiseman is an American country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesn ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

group Diamond Rio. It was released in December 1996 as the fourth and final single from their album '' IV''. It peaked at number 4 in the United States, and number 5 in Canada.

Content

The first verse begins with two young lovers holding each other in the back of a car while their parents are at home worrying that they are going too fast. The second verse occurs after their wedding. They are struggling to make ends meet with house payments but they are still holding on to love. The final verse goes to the birth of their first baby. As they look at him in the cradle, they agree that the most important lesson that they can teach him is to keep "holdin', lovin', smilin', believin'."

Critical reception

Larry Flick, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably saying Diamond Rio delivers with a "hook-laden single about the joys and challenges of love." He says that Roe's vocals draws the listeners into the story and makes them care about the characters in the song. He also states that the "chorus is so contagious that they will instantly find themselves singing along."''

'', December 14, 1996

Chart performance

Year-end charts

References

1997 singles 1996 songs Diamond Rio songs Songs written by Craig Wiseman Arista Nashville singles Songs written by Kelly Garrett (songwriter) {{1996-country-song-stub