Hold Me Now
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For other uses, see Hold Me Now (disambiguation).
| Hold Me Now | |
|---|---|
| Eurovision Song Contest 1987 entry | |
| Country | Republic of Ireland |
| Artist(s) | Seán Michael Patrick Sherrard |
| As | Johnny Logan |
| Language | English |
| Composer(s) | Seán Michael Patrick Sherrard |
| Lyricist(s) | Seán Michael Patrick Sherrard |
| Place | 1st |
| Points | 172 |
| Lyrics | from Diggiloo Thrush |
| "Hold Me Now" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Johnny Logan |
"Hold Me Now" is a song composed and performed by Johnny Logan from Ireland. In 1987 Johnny Logan won the Eurovision Song Contest with the song. Logan had previously won with What's Another Year? in the 1980 Contest and would go on to write the winner of the 1992 Contest (Why Me? for Linda Martin for whom he had previously written Terminal 3 at the 1984 Contest)
The song holds the distinction of being one of the very few self-composed songs to win the Contest, and is regarded by many fans as one of the high points of Contest history, recently being voted the third-best song in history (behind "Waterloo" and "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu").
Lyrically, the song is a ballad sung from the point of view of a man whose love interest is leaving him for someone else ("from now on you'll be with someone else instead of me"). The singer pleads with his girlfriend to "touch, touch me the way you used to do" in order to leave him with good memories of their relationship, even as they "fill this memory/for the last time".
The chorus then tells the girl "don't say a word", as they prepare to part. Despite the sad nature of the parting, the singer says that "I will know/though we're apart/we'll always be together", which implies some sort of optimism on his part.
The music (also composed by Logan) is that of a typical Eurovision power ballad, with the final chorus being introduced by a chorus of backing singers before they are joined by Logan's voice again. Indeed, after Logan had been proclaimed the winner with this song, he was overcome with emotion during the reprise and was unable to reach the high notes in this part of the song. As he had when he won in 1980 with What's Another Year?, he shouted "I still love you, Ireland".
- What do you say when words are not enough?
- -- from "Hold Me Now"
The song was performed twentieth on the night (following Denmark's Anne-Cathrine Herdorf & Drengene with En Lille Melodi and preceding Yugoslavia's Novi Fosili with Ja Sam Za Ples). At the close of voting, it had received 172 points, placing 1st in a field of 22.
The song was succeeded as winner in 1988 by Celine Dion representing Switzerland with Ne Partez Pas Sans Moi.
It was succeeded as Irish representative at the 1988 Contest by Jump The Gun with Take Him Home.
The song has been covered by several performers, including a reggae version by Tanya Stephens. It has also been updated by Belgian rapper Kaye Styles as "Don't Cry". The cover also features Logan performing the chorus of the song at a slightly faster tempo than the traditional version.
[edit] References
YouTube video. Don't cry (hold me now). Retrieved on 2006-08-29.
