ELO, Lyrics:
Hold on tight.
Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see your ship go sailing
When you feel your heart is breaking
Hold tight to your dream.
It's a long time to be gone
Time just rolls on and on
When you need a shoulder to cry on
When you get so sick of trying
Just hold tight to your dream
CHORUS:
When you get so down that you can't get up
And you want so much but you're all out of luck
When you're so downhearted and misunderstood
Just over & over & over you could
Accroche-toi à ton rêve
Accroche-toi à ton rêve
Quand tu vois ton bateau partir
Quand tu sens ton coeur se briser
Accroche-toi à ton rêve.
REPEAT CHORUS:
Hold on tight to your dream
Hold on tight to your dream
When you see the shadows falling
When you hear that cold wind calling
Hold on tight to your dream.
Oh, yeah
Hold on tight to your dream
Yeah, hold on tight...
To your dream.
Jeff Lynne
From the 1981 LP, Time.
Facts:
"Hold on Tight" from Time. Also hidden in plain sight are the French lyrics for the third verse in Hold On Tight. The line is basically a direct translation of the first verse from English to French. The original Time album's liner notes credits this as "Accroches-toi a ton rêve, Accroches-toi a ton rêve, Quand tu vois ton bateau partir, Quand tu sents ton cocur se briser, Accroches-toi a ton rêve". At it turns out, Jeff and his family had a home in France at the time, which is where his daughters were living with their mother. At the time, Jeff was in Musicland Studios in Germany recording the song, and apparently called up the girls' nanny in France to get the translation. The French lyrics, credited to Ghislaine (probably the nanny), are not a 100% true translation, although they are very close. Translating the French lyrics back to English, they are: "You hang on to your dream; You hang on to your dream; When you see your ship is parting; When you feel your heart is breaking".
Note: Also included with this song on the Time Re-Issue album is a 24 second electronic instrumental interlude that was added prior to the beginning of this song and after the previous song 21st Century Man. This added musical interlude or intro to Hold on Tight was never included in the original Time album pressing.