“Post-Orlando, I’ve seen a lot of people post lyrics to our song ‘Hang On To The Night,’ which 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. I can remember feeling so similarly after Paris, when you can imagine it happening somewhere you can picture yourself being—you feel so awful. It’s a tough time right now, and I know people are scared and I feel the same way, especially with both shootings feeling very personal—with Christina Grimmie’s the night before the Pulse shooting. Meet-and-greets are something we’ve done thousands and thousands of times. These people come far and wide to celebrate community and to have that shattered so violently—it’s just an awful and completely unnecessary loss of life and community and safety."
Tegan, Genius
“The song was a response to a number of sudden deaths in our family and my anxiety about mortality. If you can manage to hang on, you can face another day.”
Sara, Nylon
Visibly queer Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin have proven that transitioning from indie rock to a more mainstream pop sound does not necessarily equate to a loss of emotional depth. Part of the credit goes to American producer and multi-instrumentalist Greg Kurstin, who is perhaps best known for co-wroting, producing and playing most of the instruments on Adele's "Hello", and who has collaborated with Beck, The Shins and many other high profile female musicians: Sia, Kelly Clarkson, Ellie Goulding, Pink, and Lily Allen.
The glossy synth-pop ballad sparkles with precision and unmistakable radio-friendliness, but there's also a sincere emotional depth on display here. As Pitchfork's Cameron Cook has observed, the duo have a knack for presenting soul-baring emotional truths via economical lyricism: "At their best, they boil down love songs to their purest, aching essence, capturing complicated emotions in economical, less-is-more lyrical strokes".
"Hang On To Night's" simple lyrics work as a self-help mantra that displays vulnerability and strength in the face of social and psychological adversity - helping the track provide much-needed solace and consolation to many of Tegan and Sara's young LGBT fans:
'Hang on to the nightSoon your mind is gonna lose youHang on to your hopeYou have so much you gotta get throughHang on to yourselfNo good'll come from being untrueHang on to your heartLoss is pain but it can save youHang in tonight, hang in tonightI dunno why I sweat thisHang in tonight, hang in tonightBut I can't get past itHang in tonight, hang in tonightI just felt so helplessHang in tonight, hang in tonightAnd I just can't shake it'
Lyrics: Genius
Lisa Hanawalt, the production designer and producer of Netflix's BoJack Horseman, and animator Nicole Stafford have produced a quirky (look out for the well-endowed snakes), surreal and poignant animated music video for Love You to Death's (2016) closing track.
