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- Song The Longer You Hold On
- LyricsI can tell by the way you look through me
As if I wasn’t in the room at all
And I can tell you’re just waiting for the right time
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall
Further in despair... - Artist(s) Colter Wall
- Album Memories and Empties
- Released October 31, 2025
- Label La Honda Records/RCA Records
- Songwriter(s) Colter Wall
- Producer(s) Patrick Lyons, Colter Wall
The Background:
Colter Wall has become quite the cult favourite in country music for those that love a traditional Western sound, so it’s no surprise that his upcoming album, Memories and Empties, has ended up being one of 2025’s most highly anticipated releases.
The Saskatchewan native spends his days out on his Canadian ranch and any time he returns to music to tell his tales, it’s always a treat.
His previous album, 2023’s Little Songs, was a collection of Western ballads and waltzes that quickly found their place in many fan’s hearts, from what we know about Memories and Empties so far, Wall’s taken a bit of a more upbeat feel yet maintains all of his classic sound.
The first single from Memories and Empties, titled ‘1800 Miles’, saw Wall reiterating just how happy he is to keep his distance from the world of mainstream. On the second, ‘Back to Me’, he shifted his focus to the comfort and grounding that can be found in love – a lot like a song from "way back when".
The third single, titled ‘The Longer You Hold On’, tells the story of when you can see that love coming to an end. With the full album set for a Nov. 14 release date, this is bound to be an album to keep us company through the colder months.
The Sound:
A twangy Western track, ‘The Longer You Hold On’ starts with the atmospheric picking of a fretted dobro, those echoey metal strings shaping the sound through the track. A wailing harmonica adds to the mix before Wall’s signature deep vocals come in and the story starts.
In the background, we’ve got a distant piano melody and some steady percussion that take over as the song continues, a nice guitar solo adding in that Western vibe between verses.
By now, we know what to expect from Wall in terms of sound. He’s carved out his place in country music over the last few years, and ‘The Longer You Hold On’ fits in perfectly with the landscape his discography paints.
The Meaning:
"I can tell by the way you look through me
As if I wasn’t in the room at all
And I can tell you’re just waiting for the right time
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall"
As the track begins, Wall introduces a character that is feeling quite unseen. In fact, it’s almost like he’s not there at all. As the introductory verse continues, it’s revealed that this song is about a relationship that isn’t quite what it used to be – we don’t know how long this couple has been together, but it’s long enough that things have changed.
Our main character can see the end coming, and knows that his partner is just waiting for that “right” moment (can it ever be the right moment?) to start that conversation that will bring this relationship to an end. But the longer that conversation is put off, the more it’s going to hurt.
"Further in despair
Did you ever really care
Was the thread that I’ve been hanging by
Ever really there
I can tell you’re just trying to choose your moment
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall"
Once you know that conversation is coming, it’s difficult not to start overthinking – to be looking for the signs that the end was always inevitable.
As our protagonist is moving "further in despair", those thoughts are just becoming more and more frequent to the point that he’s seeing the final thread as perhaps non-existent. How long has his partner known that they want to end things? And how long have they been letting him "hang by a thread" for?
"There was a time our love was like a pine tree
Still green through winter’s chill, strong and tall
Darlin’ if you plan to fell that timber
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall"
In classic Colter Wall style, the next verse sees him finding comparisons in the landscape around him. Conjuring up a beautiful comparison between this love and the trees that decorate the environment he knows, he reminisces on a time when their love was as strong as the evergreen pines that grow through the harsh winter.
But if his "darlin’" knows the end is coming, if they want to cut down those trees, then he’d rather it was sooner than later – don’t let the trees get any stronger or any taller if their demise is near.
For the full lyrics to Colter Wall's ‘The Longer You Hold On’, see below:
I can tell by the way you look through me
As if I wasn’t in the room at all
And I can tell you’re just waiting for the right time
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall
Further in despair
Did you ever really care
Was the thread that I’ve been hanging by
Ever really there
I can tell you’re just trying to choose your moment
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall
There was a time our love was like a pine tree
Still green through winter’s chill, strong and tall
Darlin’ if you plan to fell that timber
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall
Further in despair
Did you ever really care
Was the thread that I’ve been hanging by
Ever really there
And I can tell you’re just trying to choose your moment
The longer you hold on the further down I’ll fall
--
For more on Colter Wall, see below:
