Love, just like many things in this world is sometimes all about the perfect timing – for some people love might not come instantly or they might need some time to truly devote themselves to another person and truly fall inlove with him/her. In the context of the song – the man tells his girl to be patient and stay with their relationship. Basically, the song is about love and relationships – nothing new, right? The phrase “hold the line” is an expression we use when we want someone to remain at their current position and simply don’t go anywhere. Now, I wish to say a few words about the lyrics of the song, which are very metaphorical but quite easy to construe and relate with. “Hold the Line’ was a perfect example of what people will describe as your heavy metal chord guitar licks, your great triplet A-notes on the piano, your ‘Sly’-hot-fun-in-the-summertime groove, all mishmashed together with a boy from New Orleans singing… and it really crossed over a lot of lines,” said Jeff Porcaro, the band’s drummer. Sometimes songs come quickly like that, and sometimes I spend 2 years trying to finish a song,” said David Paich about the writing of the song. (The words) came to me in the night, and then I went to the verse. I played it for days, and I started singing, “Hold the line, love isn’t always on time.” It was a phrase that just came into my head. I started playing this riff and I just couldn’t stop playing it. “It started out with the piano riff that is in the intro. The song simply proved that six talented session musicians, who used to back up other famous artists can actually make magic on their own from the first try! In addition, in my opinion, the song’s biggest asset would be the elegant but vigorous “creamy” guitar riff. The song features a single-note piano percussion, which was a quite popular technique at that time. I am absolutely inlove with his voice…and how can I not be – his timbre penetrates your soul and mind without any effort or whatsoever.
The song was written by the keyboardist of the band – David Paich and the lead vocals are performed by the incredibly talented Bobby Kimball. However, Toto did it with this song – it immediately reached top positions in the USA, Swedish, South African, Canadian and Australian charts. Not many artists had the opportunity to leave such an outstanding first impression the moment they stepped into the cutthroat world of music industry. “Hold the Line” was released back in 1978 as the band’s first single EVER and also featured in their debut self-titled album. The piano intro, the drums and the guitar are just too sweet and striking… In addition to the brilliant lyrics, I have to say the guitar backing is beyond remarkable and influential. Among all songs from their lengthy career and huge catalog, I have to say that “Hold the Line” is indeed my favorite song of theirs. Throughout the years, the band had numerous line-up changes but they still warm up our hearts with awesome songs such as “Hold the Line”, “Rosanna” and “Africa”. To date, they have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and are proud owners of numerous awards, including Grammys. Since the moment they released their debut album, Toto have been enjoying enormous success within the mainstream audience, especially from the 70s till the 80s. The goal of such publications is to not only learn a little bit more about some of rock music’s greatest songs but to also remind ourselves of a forgotten song – you’d be surprised to know that for many people it may have been ages since they last played Toto, for instance…Also, I love interpreting the meaning behind the lyrics…Īnyhow, for today I decided to focus on another fantastic rock song from the late 70s by the American rock band Toto.
I mean, if a particular song means a lot to you and you love it with all your heart and soul, you should at least know some basic data about it – who wrote it, when was it released or does it have a special hidden meaning…? I’m not sure how many of you guys I’m sharing favorite songs with, however I do try to choose ultimate rock classics, known by everyone. That’s why these types of publications – “the story of…” are so frequent on my blog. I don’t know about you guys, but one of my favorite past time activities is digging out information and finding out more about my favorite songs.
Each and every song has a specific background story and is surrounded by numerous interesting facts and details that led to its existence.
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