Comments, input and alterations are very welcome!
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Hold Back
(Mick Jagger / Keith Richards)

RPM Studios, New York City, New York, US, July 16 - August 17 &
September 10 - October 15, 1985 and Right Track Studios, New York City,
New York, US, November 15 - December 5, 1985

Mick Jagger - vocals
Keith Richards - electric guitar
Charlie Watts - drums
Ron Wood - electric guitar
Bobby Womack - electric guitar
Ivan Neville - bass
Chuck Leavell - organ

Hear the voice of experience, a word from the wise
Grab opportunities while you're alive
'Cause if you follow the crowd, 'cause if you act like a coward
You'll end up yelling out loud
Hold back, you regret it some day, choke on that
Don't let it pass you by, hold back, you better seize the hour

If you look in your history books, if you delve in the past
Stalin and Roosevelt, yeah, they both took their chances
And George grasped the nettle, it's do or dare, from the banks of the Delaware
Yeah, don't hold back, trust your gut reactions, yeah, be bold, be bold, baby
If you don't take chances you won't make advances, hold back, yeah

Don't matter if you ain't so good lookin', if you ain't sharp as a blade
Don't be afraid, hold back, life is passing you by, choke on that
Keep on moving, keep on moving, ya gotta run with the crowd, yeah
You’re going to end up, end up in a madhouse, shouting those cold walls down, yeah Don't hold back

Hold back, you're messing with your life, hold back, yeah, life goes by fast sometimes
Be bold, be bold, be bold, be bold baby, you're wastin' your time
I want your attention, so pin back your ears
I've been climbing this tree of promises for over forty years
The visions get broken and bust on the ground, so watch me, watch me rebound
Yeah, don't hold back, you wrecking your life, choke on that
Don't hold back, you're messing with your life

Produced by The Glimmer Twins & Steve Lilywhite

First released on:
The Rolling Stones - “Dirty Work” LP
(CBS 86321) UK, March 24, 1986

A track from 'Dirty Work'....

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The most beloved track in the Stones catalog, particularly noteworthy for Jagger's vocal. (;-)

There are some tracks not deserving of analysis and commentary. This is one of them.

I've been wondering about that nettle Washington grasped. Could someone please explain
to me (and maybe other non-Americans) it that is a common metaphore for doing something
brave, or is this somehow based on history or some myth?

Some great guitar playing in there. Seems to be forgotten or overlooked, because of Mick's vocals, Charlie's drum sound etc.

IMO, the guitars are top notch. The track is mediocre at best, but nowhere near as bad as many on this board point out.

Some great guitar playing in there
It can very well be Bobby Womack playing that great guitar....

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Pity, I hardly can hear the guitars because of Charlie's drumming

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Come On
Some great guitar playing in there
It can very well be Bobby Womack playing that great guitar....

Very Well? It's not hard to spot who's playing what in there. The Keith riffs are magnificent, and Womack's funky fills are great as well. Great interplay.

Years ago this song was discussed here and it was generally dissed. Personally I love the song - the melody, the riff, and the vocals. Jagger pretty much spits out the words. Love it.

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71Tele
There are some tracks not deserving of analysis and commentary. This is one of them.

Agreed. Arguably the lowest point in the band's career.

Drew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-31 13:00 by drewmaster.

An utter abortion from beginning to end. Jagger's vocals at their absolute worst as he spends about five minutes growling around the studio in a forlorn search for something resembling a tune, a drum track that appears to have been transmitted via satellite from Saturn and a mix that even the band's mothers couldn't love.

The lyric is actually one of the few redeeming things about it, but any potential it had is lost in a sonic abomination which in my opinion is possibly the only song in the band's entire catalogue that I find completely unlistenable.

There are believed to be a group of Chilean miners who have spent the last 25 years deep in the bowels of a studio in New York looking in vain for the lost melody to this song.

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marcovandereijk
I've been wondering about that nettle Washington grasped. Could someone please explain
to me (and maybe other non-Americans) it that is a common metaphore for doing something
brave, or is this somehow based on history or some myth?

It's not an Americanism. The stinging nettle is a nasty British plant that lurks in the undergrowth and gives you a temporary. but painful, sting. The myth is that if you touch it lightly, like a wimp, it will sting you, but if you grab it firmly, it won't. Doesn't work for me - I get stung anyway. But you can work out that grasping the nettle is something like taking the bull by the horns - approaching an awkward situation with boldness and determination.

It appears that Gazza secretly likes this track!!!

so... should we "hold back" or "don't hold back"?

cc....Don't hold back.. Let it Loose!! ha..

Here you are if you want to listen to the masterpiece:





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Still like it a lot.

The guitar riffing and guitar sound is great. The little solo (Jimmy Page? ) The break (between 2:48 and 3:15) is great, especially when the guitar comes back in with the funky bass lines) Okay, the drumSOUND is bad but that has nothing to do with Charlie and all with Steve Lillywhite. Guess I'm in the minority here, but that's okay.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-31 17:03 by barbabang.

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Gazza
An utter abortion from beginning to end.

couldn't agree more. i can never understand all the love from these tracks, all which suck:
- Hold Back
- Fight
- Had It With You
- Winning Ugly
- Dirty Work

All are so bad. I didn't list Back To Zero since everyone agrees that one sucks.

Love it. Lots of fresh ideas in the guitar section. Some anticipations of You don't move me. Jagger over the top fake angry singing and the drum sound don't spoil it. Those were the days ...

C

Truthfully, I prefer "Hold Back" and "Back to Zero" to "Fight." The latter sounded so promising as an instrumental backing track but grew into something dreadul by the time it was mastered.

"Hold Back" has great guitar work. This coupled with Ivan Neville's bass swing in the final seconds is almost redemptive. I stress almost because Mick's shouting and the drums really kill it.

Chris Jagger says he helped out with lyrics on one of the songs from the DIRTY WORK sessions. If it was a track that saw release, then I suspect it was this one.

While much of the blame is laid at the feet of Steve Lillywhite, it's interesting to note that both "Hold On To Your Hat" and "Hearts For Sale" on STEEL WHEELS continue the same production style and barking vocals. This was part of the new identity for the band as Corporate Hard Rock which seemed to be Walter Yetnikoff's vision of the band.

Jagger's vocals are likely beyond salvaging, but I do wonder what a remixed DIRTY WORK with the drums turned down might sound like. The various outtakes are definitely superior before the production sheen was coated multiple times. For me the only tracks on the finished album that truly work are "Harlem Shuffle," "Had It With You," and "Too Rude." The overproduced drums and backing vocals on "Sleep Tonight" have not aged well either, but they are better than on the rockers and sound like Keith spent a lot of time listening to Dylan's EMPIRE BURLESQUE. It also helps that "Sleep Tonight" is a good song, something I would not claim for many tracks on this album. That said, "One Hit," "Hold Back," "Dirty Work," and even "Winning Ugly" would benefit greatly from new mixes.

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LeonidP

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Gazza
An utter abortion from beginning to end.

couldn't agree more. i can never understand all the love from these tracks, all which suck:
- Hold Back
- Fight
- Had It With You
- Winning Ugly
- Dirty Work

All are so bad. I didn't list Back To Zero since everyone agrees that one sucks.

None of those others you mention are anything special, but all at least have some redeeming qualities. 'Fight' could have been quite a good one but for the horrible drum sound.

Which leaves us with two cover versions (albeit pretty solid ones), an almost-great opener in 'One Hit' (which has aged a bit with an overfussy 80's production but which is still pretty good thanks mainly to an excellent Jimmy Page-led guitar assault) and the absolutely sublime closer that is 'Sleep Tonight'.

I think a lot of people like the sheer, unapologetic, nasty attitude that drips off 'Dirty Work', and thats understandable - however, it doesnt quite make up for the fact that many of the songs just arent up to Rolling Stones standards and the sound of the album is pretty horrible.

song should have been held back forever

I forgot just how awful this track is. The only tracks I listen to from this album are One Hit, Too Rude, Dirty Work and Had it With You.

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Richard from Canada
I love the song - the melody,

as gazza suggests - there IS no melody. it's completely tuneless tune.

That entire album should have been held back.

Richards seems to have thought highly enough of the opening bars to "Hold back" to have recycled the riff and later call the song "You got me rocking". The results are even worse.

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DandelionPowderman
Some great guitar playing in there. Seems to be forgotten or overlooked, because of Mick's vocals, Charlie's drum sound etc.

IMO, the guitars are top notch. The track is mediocre at best, but nowhere near as bad as many on this board point out.

It's "forgetten or overlooked" because the song stinks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011-01-31 23:13 by 71Tele.

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liddas
Love it. Lots of fresh ideas in the guitar section. Some anticipations of You don't move me. Jagger over the top fake angry singing and the drum sound don't spoil it. Those were the days ...

C

Lots of fresh something, that's for sure...

Mick's singin' like Michael Jackson on this horrible track...fyiiiiiii

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