Hold On Loosely
by 38 Special
- 127
- BPM
- E major
- Key
- 12B
- Camelot
- 55
- Danceability
- 1
- Acousticness
"Hold On Loosely" was the 13th video MTV played on the day it launched in 1981. 38 Special released it that year on A&M Records as the lead single from Wild-Eyed Southern Boys. It reached number three on Billboard's Rock Tracks chart, number 27 on the Hot 100, and number 32 in Canada.
The song began with a rough patch in Don Barnes's marriage. He complained that his wife was not backing his career. He brought co-writer Jim Peterik a title idea, "Hold On Loosely". Peterik came back with "...but don't let go". Jeff Carlisi wrote the riff, taking his cue from "Just What I Needed" by the Cars. Peterik described it as the Cars meeting Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Barnes sang lead. The band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1974. The song was later included on the 1987 compilation Flashback: The Best of 38 Special and the 1999 live album Live at Sturgis.
Hold On Loosely runs at 127 BPM, the tempo of house, disco and most club dance music. In classical terms it sits in allegro territory. A bar of 4/4 lasts 1.89 seconds, and a quarter-note delay is 472 ms. It is in E major, Camelot 12B, which shares its notes with C# minor and mixes cleanly with A major and B major.
We use multiple sources as part of our online research for the song story including Wikipedia.