Story Behind The Song

I had been carrying the term 'for dear life' around in my head for a few days after hearing a woman in the grocery store tell her little boy that he was hanging on for dear life to the cart. Lately a number of friends had been dealing with rocky relationships. It seems to go like that, doesn't it? There seems to be a season for that sort of thing. Then one day I capoed the guitar up to the 7th fret, just playing around with that sweet little mandolin sound and the song just sort of flowed out.

Song Description

The song follows a love affair through its evolution, from a meeting on the street one raw day to a gradual fading of the relationship. Near the end we learn that the song is really a letter from one partner to the other trying to hold on to a dying love.

Lyrics

It was a cold one when first I saw your face
The sky was throwing threats around
You said can we talk awhile
I think I know a place where we can get warm
a little coffee shop I found
Then you took my arm and you smiled so sweet
and you said these words as we started down the street

For dear life, I?m hanging on to you for dear life
The wind through the trees well it cuts like a knife
so I?m hanging on to you for dear life

Through the years we became as one
That first apartment and your car that wouldn?t run
Your hand in mine through the struggle and the strain
we held on tight to love?s refrain

For dear life, I?m hanging on to you for dear life
The world outside these walls
can cut like a knife
So I?m hanging on to you for dear life

Then came the day when your eyes would dart from mine
A house filled up with silence and a love that?s past it?s prime
So I write this letter and I?m praying there?s still time
As I open up my heart and ask if you?re still mine

For dear life, I?m hanging on to you for dear life
If I should loose you it would cut like a knife
So I?m hanging on to you for dear life
Yeah I?m hanging on to you for dear life