“Hang On” by TV Girl
“Hang On” starts off with the vocalist noting the color of the addressee’s eyes, stating that they ‘look blue’ to him (even though, in actuality, they’re apparently green). That observation is particularly noteworthy because the song which precedes this one on the playlist of “Grapes Upon the Vine”, which is “All the Way Through“, he also makes a similar comment.
The color blue is one which is, from a poetic or musical standpoint, most often associated with sadness and depression. And what it appears that Brad may be getting at, as with “All the Way Through”, is observing that characteristic in the addressee and using it as an impetus to make a move on her romantically.
Or more especially within the theoretical context of this specific piece, it’s as if the vocalist has his own issues with depression/self-esteem. And he’s using that shared trait with the addressee to rationalize the two of them taking what reads like a notable friendship to the next level.
“Hang On”
Relatedly, what the title of the track alludes to is it being difficult to “stay strong” when “life is so wrong”, as Brad personally feels is his case, as well as obviously that of the addressee, if not the world at large.
But as he further claims, there is a potential remedy or mitigation, which is ‘finding someone to hang on to’.
And keeping within the insecure character he has taken on, the vocalist also lets it be known, in a roundabout way, that he’s not overly confident that this relationship with the addressee will last. But his response is that “if it ain’t tied down, you just take what you can and move on”. That reads like another way of saying, in context, that if he meets a single lady who’s also down to hook up, even on a less-than-ideal temporary level, he’d rather take that then be left with nothing at all.
So let’s conclude by saying that it’s obvious that the narrator needs a special someone in his life. But at the same time, he’s too self-defeated to truly believe that he will find something long-term and therefore would settle for anything temporary.
“I don’t know, you just do what you can
To hang on
Hang on
You just do what you can to delude yourself and stay strong (To delude yourself and stay strong)
But hang on
You found someone to hang on to
If it ain’t tied down you just take what you can and move on (Take what you can and move on)”
This song, as with apparently all others found on “Grapes Upon the Vine”, i.e. TV Girl’s fifth-studio LP, was written by the band’s frontman Brad Petering. And said project was released on 30 June 2023.
