Hang On to the Night

Album: Love You to Death (2016)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song finds an insecure Sara Quin worrying about her relationships and career. She explained to Rolling Stone: "I'm in my mid-thirties, and I'm starting to think about mortality a lot. We've lost a lot of people in the last few years. I think about death all the time [laughs]. I have insecurities about our career. What happens if people stop liking us? Am I a freak of nature now because I'd just spent 17 years touring? Is it even possible for me to have a normal life? I think about these things all the time. It can be intense."
  • Tegan Quin told Genius the song 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."
  • The animated video features a giant purple horse that pulls stars from its body and places them in the sky as well as leading strange creatures through the night. The clip was directed by Lisa Hanawalt, the production designer and producer of Netflix's BoJack Horseman. Hanawalt said:

    "My video was partly inspired by Fantasia (the Pastoral Symphony part with all the pegasi & centaurs!), and also by folktales about the origination of things in nature. A few years ago, I came up with this colossal horse figure who puts the stars in the sky every night and wakes up all the night-time creatures, and when I heard this song it just felt like the perfect fit, visually. I added a few more story beats – halfway through the video, some humans in helicopters try to interfere because they don't understand her. Two cats fall in love and then explode into stars, sacrificing themselves. I want it to feel a little sad, but also kind of hopeful because you know the cycle will repeat itself the next night."

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