Music Review: Drake & Majid Jordan "Hold On, We're Going Home"

Drake & MajidJordan

Hold On, We’re Going Home

Album: Nothing Was The Same

Year: 2013

         Drake comforts his upset girlfriend in the sumptuous “Hold On, We’re Going Home.”

           Silvery synths open the single, setting a savvy tone.  He checks his cell phone again. Nothing.  It’s been three hours since she yelled at him and slammed the door shut, taking off in her car. Is she safe? Where did she go? He starts texting her friends, trying to find out. She’s a spitfire who tells it like it is. Her soft touch spins his senses, highlighting every scent and sound. It can’t be the end. He can only stare into the distance, wondering what he can do. The possibility of her not speaking to him again is too much to handle right now. He has to do something.

      His phone dings. One of her friends texted him back, saying she’s been drinking and plans on going to the bar to make out every guy there.  Her friend has been trying to take her keys away for the last half hour. He types into his phone that he’ll be right there to pick her up. She’s hurting and trying to cover it up. Whatever she’s saying, she doesn’t mean and won’t follow through on it. Like him, she’s a homebody. They stay home a lot, watching television and experimenting with recipes she found online. Around him, she lets her guard down. She’s smart (although she doesn’t believe it) and he can see her, heading to work one day as an office manager in an expensive pantsuit, kissing their children goodbye for the day.  (“I got my eyes on you, you're everything that I see/I want your hot love and emotion endlessly/I can't get over you, you left your mark on me/I want your high love and emotion endlessly/Cause you're a good girl and you know it/You act so different around me/Cause you're a good girl and you know it/I know exactly who you could be.”)

                   In the chorus, she straddles his arms around him, stumbling on the sidewalk, apologizing. He tells her it’s ok and he understands. He’s going to bring her home and she can sleep it off. (“Just hold on we're going home/Just hold on we're going home/It's hard to do these things alone/Just hold on we're going home.”)

            The first verse and chorus are sung again.

        Majid Jordan takes the bridge. He gives her a glass of water as she lies in bed. He asks if she’s needs anything. She shakes her head no, her voice scrachy after throwing up for a while. He tells her that there is nothing she can say to him that would make him leave. No matter what, he’ll be there for her. A future does exist for them even if it’s too faraway for her to see it. (“You're the girl, you're the one/Gave you everything I love/I think there's something, baby/I think there's something, baby.”)

           Part of the first verse is sung again. (“Cause you're a good girl and you know it…I know exactly who you could be.”)

                The chorus is sung again to end the single.

               Drake’s doting, enamored vocals  are concerned, looking out for his girlfriend’s well-being. Whatever they fought about doesn’t matter. He just needs to know she’s all right and safe. They can talk out their issues later.

              R&B’s shift to 70s rhythms has its cliches: horny yet romantic men with their virginal girlfriends exploring their wild sides. The linear song structure is either expanded or minimized with a quick hook.

           Jordan’s peaceful vocals meld into the single, liquifying with every breath.

          Drake is somewhere in the middle. His love is genuine for her. Sex is not the most important aspect and won’t ever be. The virginal girlfriend has a part but she’s seen as human.. Kinky positions aren’t in her interest. It’s her vulnerability that causes her to act out. The rich arrangement pauses, letting the minimalistic lyrics absorb into arrangement and then spins for a bit. It’s the right about of time (3:47), keeping it from becoming long-winded and montonous.

          The exquisite “Hold On, We’re Going Home” galvanizes the genre with a fresh perspective.