Toto - Hold The Line - Meaning of the song
This pop nugget was the first single by Toto, a group made up of six very talented session musicians who had backed up artists like Boz Scaggs, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Jackson Browne. Written by their keyboard man David Paich with lead vocals by Bobby Kimball. It deals with the mysteries of love. It proved that a slick pop song created by top players could succeed without a great deal of hype or a charismatic lead singer.
"Hold the line" is an expression meaning to maintain your existing position, which in this case is the singer telling a girl to be patient and stay with their relationship. The saying also has a more literal meaning, however, which is how David Paich came up with the title. "Hold the line" is what you tell someone on the phone if you want to put them on hold while you're taking another call. This is typical in workplaces, but in the days before cell phones, some households (especially ones with teenagers) also had multiple phone lines coming in and could put callers on hold. Paich lived in one such household. Paich explains:
"When I was in high school, all of a sudden the phone started ringing off the hook, and I had a situation where I was at the dinner table and I had three girls all call at the same time, so all the lights were flashing. I was kind of juggling girlfriends, and that's how that came about."
Hold The Line - Lyrics
It's not in the way that you hold me It's not in the way you say you care It's not in the way you've been treating my friends It's not in the way that you'll stay till the end It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you do Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh It's not in the words that you told me It's not in the way you say you're mine It's not in the way that you came back to me It's not in the way that your love set me free It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you do Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh It's not in the words that you told me It's not in the way you say you're mine, oooh It's not in the way that you came back to me It's not in the way that your love set me free It's not in the way you look or the things that you say that you do Hold the line Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh Hold the line Love isn't always on time (Love isn't always on time) Hold the line Love isn't always on time (Love isn't always, love isn't always on time) Hold the line Love isn't always on time Love isn't always on time Love isn't always on time Love isn't always on time Whoa oh oh
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