Hold the Girl (song)

This article is about the song. For the album, see Hold the Girl.

## "**Hold the Girl**"

Single artwork

Single by Rina Sawayama

## Music Video

"**Hold the Girl**" is a song recorded by Rina Sawayama, taken from her sophomore studio album of the same name, which was released on 16 September 2022 under Dirty Hit. The song was released as the album's third official single on 27 July 2022 through Dirty Hit. This is Sawayama's first title track ever.

A "cinematic" music video directed by Ali Kurr was released on 3 August 2022, and it sees the singer stuck in a time loop within the bounds of a 19th-century farmhouse until she finally breaks free.

## Background and production

"Hold the Girl" was the first song Sawayama wrote for the album at the end of 2020. "I had gone to therapy and had a revelation, so I decided to write the song," she explained, "that was the start of it, and then I started doing more intense therapy. I was crying before going into the studio and going into the studio to write about it." The song was written by Sawayama with Barney Lister and Jonny Lattimer in the first session Sawayama did with Lister.

> He was producing the song and I was throwing out all these ideas, like: 'So, I want it to be country, and I want the beginning to sound like Bon Jovi, and I really also want to then do a garage drop.'
>
>

Sawayama felt that "Hold the Girl" was a "very, very hard" song to balance, stating that its production must have gone back and forth about 20 times, and then another 20 times on the mix. "I was trying to make it really big and orchestral, but also a pop song. 'Hold the Girl' was the song that really unblocked me and made me excited to write again."

During a May 2022 interview with Sawayama, Hannah Ewens of *Rolling Stone* described the song as the "statement piece" on re-parenting yourself. "It opens like a holy gesture to Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' and becomes an emotional dancefloor filler about caring tenderly for the younger person you abandoned," Ewens wrote. She also described Sawayama's vocals on the song like "00s R&B".

## Release

On 20 July 2022, Sawayama posted on Twitter "guess the next single pixels", and attached photos teasing "Hold the Girl" as the album's next official single. The following day, she uploaded a snippet of the song on TikTok. It premiered on BBC Radio 1 in 27 July 2022 as Clara Amfo's "Hottest Record in the World."

## Composition

"Hold the Girl" is an "early-2000s" inspired pop track with "glitchy" garage "beats", "cut-up" vocal samples, "disco" strings, and a key change accompanied by "massive Phil Collins-esque" drums. Abigail Firth from *Dork* magazine felt that "Hold the Girl" sees Sawayama "cradl[ing] herself" over a garage beat that "also features disco strings and a country melody." Cat Zhang writing for *Pitchfork* felt that the song contains "abrupt flare of strings, a country gallop to the verses, and a thunderous choral finale." However, Kate French-Morris from *The Telegraph* felt that the song features "sinewy 2000s r'n'b, breakbeats, and piano house — supplied with regular doses of camp: key changes, melismas, and musical theatre-sized emotion."

Writing for *Clash* magazine, James Mellen noted that "Hold the Girl" transitions from the previous track "Minor Feelings" via some "fountain sounds." He remarked that the song is centred "around a 2-step rhythm and classic garage vocal chops", and felt that the track delivers "hooks galore" with Sawayama "blaz[ing]" through some of her best vocal performances to date. David Smyth from *Evening Standard*, too, felt that the track "combines [Sawayama's] grandiose singing style" with "skipping garage beats and cut-up vocal samples." According to Tyler Colsen from *Far Out* magazine, the song includes acoustic guitars, brief stabs of strings and some light piano runs, a chorus with pitch-shifted vocals, and a key change for the final chorus..

Lyrically, it finds Sawayama hugging her younger self in "an act of self-love", according to Jordan Currie from *Exclaim!*. Alex Gonzalez from *Uproxx* described the song as a letter to a younger version of Sawayama reminding her to "give herself grace and care, as she grows and continues to make mistakes." The song finds the singer telling someone to "hold the girl" before undergoing an epiphany. It opens with the lines "Reach inside and hold you close / I won't leave you on your own / Teach me the words I used to know / Yea I forgot them long ago / So hold that girl." Later, on the bridge, she identifies the girl as living inside herself. "'Cause the girl in your soul's singing on / And you owe her the world / So hold the girl," she sings.

## Critical reception

Writing for *Stereogum*, author Rachel Brodsky described the track as a "monster-sized club banger." Stephen Daw from *Billboard* felt that the "equal parts orchestral and technological production" of the song provide an "enthralling backdrop to the singer's metaphysical journey, making for a song that will have you calling your therapist ASAP."

While reviewing the parent album, Martyn Young from *musicOMH* described "Hold the Girl" as an "immediate signifier". He added, "[d]ramatic and swelling, it's a perfect balance between the glitchy, feverish beats of the music with a soaring and yearning vocal. It's a perfect sign of all the sides of her musical character coming together as one." Neil Z. Yeung writing for AllMusic felt that "Hold the Girl" launches listeners into "into this world without boundaries where swelling strings, a skittering beat, country-inspired twang, and a massive club chorus somehow sound like they always belonged together."

## Music video

A music video directed by Ali Kurr for the song was released on 3 August 2022. It was filmed in "the mounts" of Sofia, Bulgaria, in the middle of a thunder, snow and hail storm. "It was absolute chaos and an experience I will always remember," Sawayama said in an e-mail sent to fans. It acts as a "metaphor" for Sawayama's emotional breakthrough in therapy, which inspired her to write the song. Ali Kurr stated that this is one of her favourites music video she and Sawayama have made to date.

### Synopsis

> It was all about capturing the feeling of having the strength to leave a situation and then when that initial adrenaline rush leaves you, all you are left with is the memory that can often leave you feeling even more alone.
>
> — Ali Kurr on the music video

The Westworld-inspired clip sees Sawayama wearing period attire and trapped in an secluded ranch and, as she tries to escape from the house, an unseen and unnamed force constantly pulls her back, until she eventually finds freedom when the modern and old worlds fuse with Sawayama eventually breaking free from the house. As the sun dips below the horizon, a troupe of dancers perform till they turn their backs and she plummets to her knees.

## Live performances

Sawayama debuted the song live during her set at the Outside Lands Festival on 6 August 2022 in San Francisco. The song was also performed on 9 August at the GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles.

## Lyrics

Reach inside and hold you close

I won't leave you on your own

Teach me the words I used to know

Yeah, I forgot 'em long ago

So hold the girl

Hold the girl

Hold the girl

Hold the girl

Hold that girl

Hold that girl

Hold that girl

Sometimes I get down with guilt

For the promises I've broken to my younger self

Moving on, maybe I never will

'Cause I left you spinning on the carousel

Been living without you

Been living without you

Reach inside and hold you close

I won't leave you on your own

Teach me the words I used to know

Yeah, I forgot them long ago

I wanna rеmember

She is mе and I am her

So hold the girl

Hold the girl

(You gotta) Hold that girl

(You gotta) Hold that girl (Ooh)

(You gotta) Hold that girl

(You gotta)

Sometimes I just wanna run away

Leave behind that old me, start again

Then I'll remember who I'm really made of

And she's been hide-and-seeking, waiting all alone

Been living without you

Been living without you (Oh)

Reach inside and hold you close

I won't leave you on your own

Teach me the words I used to know

Yeah, I forgot them long ago

I wanna remember

She is me and I am her

So hold the girl

Hold the girl

Close to your heart

Never ever let her go (Never let you go)

They'll tell you to sit up, and shut up, and grow up

What the hell do they know?

'Cause the girl in your soul's singing on

And you owe her the world

So hold the girl

Hold the girl

Reach inside and hold you close

I won't leave you on your own

Teach me the words I used to know

Yeah, I forgot them so long ago

Reach inside and hold you close

I won't leave you on your own

Teach me the words I used to know

Yeah, I forgot them long ago

I wanna remember

She is me and I am her

So hold the girl

Hold the girl

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/rina-sawayama-new-single-hold-the-girl/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://consequence.net/2022/07/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-stream/
3. ↑ http://www.enigmaonline.com/2022/08/03/rina-sawayama-shares-new-video-2/
4. ↑ "Tickets for Rina Sawayama | Galvanizers SWG3". TicketWeb.uk (18 May 2022). Archived from the original on May 22, 2022. Retrieved on May 18, 2022.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Rina Sawayama (16 September 2022). "*Hold the Girl* by Rina Sawayama on Apple Music". Apple Music (US). Dirty Hit. Retrieved on September 16, 2022.
6. ↑ Ewens, Hannah (30 May 2022). "Rina Sawayama: holding herself tight - Rolling Stone UK". *Rolling Stone*. Retrieved on May 30, 2022.
7. ↑ Rina Sawayama [@rinasawayama] (20 July 2022). "RINA SAWAYAMA on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved on July 21, 2022. “guess the next single pixels 😏😏😏”
8. ↑ "Hold the Girl created by Rina Sawayama". TikTok.
9. ↑ https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/rina-sawayama-shares-powerful-video-for-new-single-hold-the-girl/
10. ↑ Bedenbaugh, Thomas (19 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama ‘Hold the Girl’ Review: Artistic Growth at the Expense of Hooks". *Slant*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Currie, Jordan (24 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama Can't Hold Back on 'Hold the Girl'". *Exclaim!*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Mellen, James (13 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama - Hold The Girl | Reviews". *Clash*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Smyth, David (16 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama - Hold the Girl review: An enjoyably unpredictable world". *Evening Standard*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
14. ↑ Nugent, Annabel (15 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama, Hold the Girl review: Pop star makes therapy fun on her ecstatic, eclectic second album". *The Independent*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
15. ↑ Firth, Abigail (15 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama – Hold The Girl". *Dork*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
16. ↑ Zhang, Cat (16 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama: Hold the Girl Album Review". *Pitchfork*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
17. ↑ French-Morris, Kate (16 September 2022). "Marcus Mumford confronts his demons, Rina Sawayama is Dr Frankenstein – the week’s best albums". *Telegraph*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
18. ↑ https://uproxx.com/pop/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl-video/
19. ↑ https://www.stereogum.com/2194439/rina-sawayama-hold-the-girl/music/
20. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/culture/pride/best-new-pride-king-princess-hayley-kiyoko-rina-sawayama-1235119443/
21. ↑ Young, Martyn (16 September 2022). "Rina Sawayama – Hold The Girl | Album Reviews". *musicOMH*. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
22. ↑ Yeung, Neil Z.. "Rina Sawayama - Hold the Girl Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved on September 24, 2022.
23. ↑ https://diymag.com/2022/08/03/rina-sawayama-new-video-hold-the-girl
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 https://www.lbbonline.com/news/rina-sawayama-finds-freedom-in-westworld-inspired-hold-the-girl-video
25. ↑ Rina Sawayama (27 July 2022). "Hold the Girl - Single by Rina Sawayama". Spotify. Dirty Hit. Retrieved on July 28, 2022.
26. ↑ Rina Sawayama (27 July 2022). "Hold The Girl - Rina Sawayama". Deezer. Dirty Hit. Retrieved on July 28, 2022.