Hang On to the Night

Album: Love You to Death (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This song finds an insecure Sara Quin worrying about her relationships and career. She explained to Rolling Stone: "I'm in my mid-thirties, and I'm starting to think about mortality a lot. We've lost a lot of people in the last few years. I think about death all the time [laughs]. I have insecurities about our career. What happens if people stop liking us? Am I a freak of nature now because I'd just spent 17 years touring? Is it even possible for me to have a normal life? I think about these things all the time. It can be intense."
  • Tegan Quin told Genius the song was written, "in the spirit of even your darkest hour, even in the darkest time, even when you feel alone, feel rejected or feel scared, you need to hang on."
  • The animated video features a giant purple horse that pulls stars from its body and places them in the sky as well as leading strange creatures through the night. The clip was directed by Lisa Hanawalt, the production designer and producer of Netflix's BoJack Horseman. Hanawalt said:

    "My video was partly inspired by Fantasia (the Pastoral Symphony part with all the pegasi & centaurs!), and also by folktales about the origination of things in nature. A few years ago, I came up with this colossal horse figure who puts the stars in the sky every night and wakes up all the night-time creatures, and when I heard this song it just felt like the perfect fit, visually. I added a few more story beats – halfway through the video, some humans in helicopters try to interfere because they don't understand her. Two cats fall in love and then explode into stars, sacrificing themselves. I want it to feel a little sad, but also kind of hopeful because you know the cycle will repeat itself the next night."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song Spoofs

A Monster Ate My Red Two: Sesame Street's Greatest Song SpoofsSong Writing

When singers started spoofing their own songs on Sesame Street, the results were both educational and hilarious - here are the best of them.

Daniel Lanois

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.

Kristian Bush of Sugarland

Kristian Bush of SugarlandSongwriter Interviews

Kristian talks songwriting technique, like how the chorus should redefine the story, and how to write a song backwards.

Paul Williams

Paul WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

He's a singer and an actor, but as a songwriter Paul helped make Kermit a cultured frog, turned a bank commercial into a huge hit and made love both "exciting and new" and "soft as an easy chair."

George Clinton

George ClintonSongwriter Interviews

When you free your mind, your ass may follow, but you have to make sure someone else doesn't program it while it's wide open.

00s Music Quiz 1

00s Music Quiz 1Music Quiz

Do you know the girl singer on Eminem's "Stan"? If so, this quiz is for you.