Hold On My Heart - Live From Hannover,Germany/2007

A band composition, this poignant song records the thoughts of someone who is hesitant but open to the possibility of loving again after losing someone very dear: "Don't let her see you crying." We're never told what happened to the previous love, but it seems very likely she has died or at the very least is now far away: "She'll always be with me."

This is one of those Genesis songs that sounds like it might be a Phil Collins solo effort. "I can understand why people say that, but in a way I resent it because it's very much my chord sequence," keyboard player Tony Banks said in the Way We Walk DVD. "The reason why it sound like Phil a bit is because there are certain kind of chords that I went to because his voice sounds good over them. I put them together in a particular kind of way that I thought was quite attractive." Banks added in a Songfacts interview: "I used to get a look from Mike or Phil and they'd say, 'You've gone too far this time.' But, I would try to slip a few things in without them noticing. Even a simple song like 'Hold On My Heart,' the opening chords are pretty exotic, actually, and I crept those in without them really noticing what was happening."

Tony Banks embraces unusual sounds that could be considered mistakes by traditional standards. The opening chords of this song are an example, as he created some intentional discord. "I was playing a respectable chord, but putting the wrong bass note to it," he said. "You're desperate for it to resolve, and it finally does. Immediately you've got a song."