[Verse 1]
She'd given everything she could give
Twenty years of kindness made her sad
Kindness never made enough to live
So she sold the very last thing that she had

[Pre-Chorus 1]
As she held her hand out to him
As he drove around the block
He mouthed through the window, "Just hold on"

"I've held on many years now
And I haven't found a lot"
Hold on, hold on to what?

[Chorus]
So hold on, hold on to what?
Hold on, hold on to what?
Hold on, hold on to what?

Holding on is harder
When it's something you've not got
I'll need a pair of stilts if I'm to
Ever reach the top

So hold on, hold on to what
Hold on, hold on to what?
Hold on, hold on to what?
[Verse 2]
Many years of service with a smile
Up shit creek and down the Rhine
Gibraltar Rock and now the Emerald Isle
He'd shined every shoe that he could shine

[Pre-Chorus 2]
And as he lay in his own blood
Screaming, "I've been shot"
He heard the Major whisper, "Just hold on"

"I've held on all these years now
Now what medal have I got?'
Hold on, hold on to what?

[Chorus]
So hold on, hold on to what?
Hold on, hold on to what?
Hold on, hold on to what?

Holding on is harder
When it's something you've not got
I'll need a pair of stilts if I'm to
Ever reach the top

So hold on, hold on to what
Hold on, hold on to what?
Hold on, hold on to what?
[Verse 3]
Sixty years, and he's looking his worst
Sitting in the park where she'd died
Running hands through his final hair
These are the words that he cried:

[Bridge]
(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)

"To achieve the American dream (Hold on)
You need a trampoline (Hold on)
To achieve the counter effect (Hold on)
Get that whiskey down your neck" (Hold on)

(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)

"To achieve the American dream (Hold on)
You need a trampoline (Hold on)
To achieve the counter effect (Hold on)
Get that whiskey down your neck" (Hold on)

[Refrain]
Chamberlain had his paper (Hold on)
Jesus had his cross (Hold on)
They held on (Hold on)
We held on to what?
(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)

Chamberlain had his paper (Hold on)
Jesus had his cross (Hold on)
They held on (Hold on)
We held on to what?

(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)

Chamberlain had his paper (Hold on)
Jesus had his cross (Hold on)
They held on (Hold on)
We held on to what?

[Outro]
(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)
We held on to what?

(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)
We held onto what?

(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)
We held onto what?

(Hold on, hold on
Hold on)
We held onto what?