"Keep Holding On" is a pop rock power ballad song recorded by Avril Lavigne and is the theme song for Eragon. It was written by Lavigne and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald, who produced the song. The strings were arranged by Patrick Doyle, who composed the Eragon soundtrack.
It also appears as the last track on Avril's third album, The Best Damn Thing, which was released on April 17, 2007. Lavigne has described the rest of the album as being upbeat and heavy in comparison to "Keep Holding On". Originally, a different version was to be included, but the original version made it instead.
The song has been well-received by music critics, with Billboard describing it as a "gorgeous song" in which Lavigne seems to be "set to remain for the long term".
Reception[]
Commercial[]
"Keep Holding On" reached number two for four weeks on the Canadian BDS Airplay Chart, being kept off the top spot by Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right". It became her highest-peaking airplay single there since "Complicated" which peaked at #1 for 1 week in 2002. It peaked within the top 20 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart, peaking at #17, and the top 10 on the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks format chart. This feat is particularly impressive considering no official music video was made to promote it. It was not released in most of Europe, although it got to #9 in Slovakia, #27 in the Czech Republic and #32 in Latvia. The single was one of the first to be issued as a digital-only release in Australia, where it charted at #5 on the Top 40 Digital Tracks chart. It was also certified Gold by the RIAA on February 22, 2007, and Platinum on January 31, 2008. As of September 2015, "Keep Holding On" had sold 1.6 million digital copies in the USA.
The track was one of the songs short-listed for the "Best Original Song" category at the 2007 Academy Awards, but it was not among the final nominees. The song was used in the season 2 finale of the American television series Ghost Whisperer. An arrangement of it was sung by the cast of Glee in the episode "Throwdown" in October 2009.
Critical[]
Despite the film being panned by critics, the song has been well received by music critics, with Billboard describing it as a "gorgeous song" in which Lavigne seems to be "set to remain for the long term". Darryl Sterdan of JAM! described the song as "A strummed guitar, lush strings and a soaring vocal about love and loyalty". He went on to compare it to "a sweeping Alanis-like ballad". Despite this, Sterdan advises the reader to skip the track. Sal Cinquemani of Slant magazine described the song as "sullen". Entertainment Weekly was negative: "And: I will only have like 3 slow songs on the record. Yay!! Yay, indeed, given how little heart she's invested in that trio of limpid ballads, including Keep Holding On, a.k.a. the love theme from Eragon." Stylus described "Keep Holding On” ends the album for the same reason graduation ends high school: because after all that, Hallmark means something." Dave Donnely praised the picking: "‘Keep Holding On’ is a stay-over from the Lord of the Dragons soundtrack, a pop ballad which demonstrates his gift for spotting and isolating great melodies." PopMatters stated that this song tries to match "I'm With You" but it fails.
In an AOL Radio listener's poll, "Keep Holding On" was voted Avril's fifth-best song.
Cover versions and samples[]
The song was used in the season 2 finale of the American television series Ghost Whisperer. An arrangement of it was sung by the cast of Glee in the episode "Throwdown" in October 2009. The song is also sung by eliminated cast members of the show The Glee Project at the end of each episode. For Children in Need 2011, this song was sung by choirs all over the UK in unison to raise money. This led the song to re-enter the UK top 200 charts at no.141. Allen Jane Sta Maria performed this song on the X Factor Philippines. Boyce Avenue also has a version of the song. The song was redone and covered by Mark Salling, on the 100th episode of popular musical series Glee. In April 2015, The Voice Kids Philippines Season 1 finalist, Darren Espanto sang his rendition of the song on ABS-CBN noon-time show, It's Showtime.
The song was covered by Iranian music producers Persian Raver & T-Punch in 2015 making a hard trance version.
Lyrics[]
You're not alone, together we stand
I'll be by your side you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold, and it feels like the end
There's no place to go you know I won't give in
(Ah, ah) No I won't give in (ah, ah-ah)
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you can say (nothing you can say)
Nothing you can do (nothing you can do)
There's no other way when it comes to the truth so
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
So far away, I wish you were here
Before it's too late this could all disappear
Before the doors close, and it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and defend
(Ah, ah) I'll fight and defend (ah, ah-ah) Yeah, Yeah
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you can say (nothing you can say)
Nothing you can do (nothing you can do)
There's no other way when it comes to the truth so
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Hear me when I say when I say "I believe"
Nothing's gonna change nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly
Yeah-Eh, Yeah-Eh, Yeah-Eh, Yeah-Eh-Ah-Ah (ah-ah, ah-ah)
La-Da-Da-Da, La-Da-Da-Da, La-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da-Da
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you can say (nothing you can say)
Nothing you can do (nothing you can do)
There's no other way when it comes to the truth so
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
(Ah-ah, ah-ah) Keep holding on
(Ah-ah, ah-ah) Keep holding on
There's nothing you can say (nothing you can say)
Nothing you can do (nothing you can do)
There's no other way when it comes to the truth so
Keep holding on (keep holding on)
'Cause you know we'll make it through, we'll make it through
Credits and personnel[]
- Vocals: Avril Lavigne
- Songwriting: Avril Lavigne, Dr. Luke
- Production: Dr. Luke