1984Released
3:58

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about I Can't Hold Back. By Songfacts®.

Like most of Survivor's hits, this song was written by guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboard player/guitarist Jim Peterik. These two got along like oil and water, but managed to set aside their differences during songwriting sessions. According to Peterik, the writing of this song was the high point of their collaborations, with Sullivan coming up with guitar riffs and Peterik forming melodies and writing most of the lyrics. Peterik had the title in mind for two years before they were able to craft it into a song. After Sullivan came up with a riff, Peterik sang the first line, "There's a story in my eyes." From there, they put together this song about a guy whose heart is filled with desire.

Jim Peterik says the pre-chorus on this song is what gives it a killer hook. He's referring to the part that goes "I can feel you tremble when we touch..." This part is so memorable that it sounds like it could be its own chorus.

The lead singer on this track is Jimi Jamison, who joined the band starting with the Vital Signs album after original singer Dave Bickler had surgery to remove throat nodules. Jamison proved a worthy frontman and a photogenic face of the band, which helped the video for this song get significant airplay on MTV.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of I Can't Hold Back.
EKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
144BPM

Album

The album I Can't Hold Back is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released I Can't Hold Back.
Volcano
(P) 1984 Volcano Entertainment III, LLC

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