Hold On To Your Friends (single)

Cover art

Unique promo cover art by Richard Barnes

MORRISSEY Single
Name	Hold On To Your Friends
Release	30 May 1994
Total Length	4:02
Recorded	Summer 1993
Writer/composer	Morrissey / Alain Whyte
Producer	Steve Lillywhite
Art work	Photo: Jake Walters Whores In Retirement Photo: Richard Barnes (Promo unique cover is his photograph from "Mods!", 1979)
Vinyl Etching	No matrix message
Publisher	Parlophone / EMI
Format(s)	7" Vinyl, 12" Vinyl, CD
Chart position	UK #48
Single chronology
The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get ← Hold On To Your Friends → Interlude

Track list

7" Vinyl

[Parlophone – R 6383]

1. Hold On To Your Friends – 4:03 (Morrissey/Whyte)
2. Moon River – 3:16 (Mercer/Mancini)

12" Vinyl, CD

[Parlophone – 12R 6383, CDR 6383]

1. Hold On To Your Friends – 4:03 (Morrissey/Whyte)
2. Moon River (extended) – 9:38 (Mercer/Mancini)

Lyrics

A bond of trust has been abused
Something of value may be lost
Give up your job
Squander your cash
Be rash
Just hold on to your friends

There are more than enough
To fight and oppose
Why waste good time
Fighting the people you like
Who will fall defending your name?
Don't feel so ashamed
To have friends

But now you only call me
When you're feeling depressed
When you feel happy
I'm so far from your mind
My patience is stretched
My loyalty vexed
You're losing all of your friends

Hold on to your friends
Hold on to your friends
Resist or move on
Be mad, be rash
Smoke and explode
Sell all of your clothes
Just bear in mind:
There just might come a time
When you need some friends

Live History

Play count (Morrissey concert): 74

Morrissey live history:

• Glasgow, Scotland 1995-02-03 (Morrissey concert)
• Motherwell, Scotland 1995-02-04 (Morrissey concert)
• Edinburgh, Scotland 1995-02-05 (Morrissey concert)
• Sheffield, England 1995-02-07 (Morrissey concert)
• Blackpool, England 1995-02-08 (Morrissey concert)
• Cambridge, England 1995-02-09 (Morrissey concert)
• Birmingham, England 1995-02-11 (Morrissey concert)
• London, England 1995-02-12 (Morrissey concert)
• Portsmouth, England 1995-02-13 (Morrissey concert)
• Hull, England 1995-02-15 (Morrissey concert)

... further results

Appears On

• Vauxhall And I
• Hold On To Your Friends (single)
• Introducing Morrissey
• Suedehead: The Best Of Morrissey
• The CD Singles '91–95'
• ¡The Best Of! Morrissey
• The HMV/Parlophone Singles '88–'95

Mentioned In

• LYRIC PRIDE - Morrissey Central (July 10, 2024)

Discogs Information

Credits

• Lacquer Cut By - Tim Young
• Photography By [All Photos By] - Jake Walters
• Producer [Produced By] - Steve Lillywhite
• Sleeve - Whores In Retirement

Notes

"Hold On to Your Friends" lyrics printed alongside a photograph of Morrissey on inside gatefold. Numbered on reverse, machine stamped lower right. Hype sticker applied directly. Vinyl slipped in a plain white inner sleeve.

[On labels]: Side A: ℗ 1993 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd. © 1994 EMI Records Ltd Warner Chappell Music Ltd/Sony Music Publishing

Side B: ℗ 1994 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd. © 1994 EMI Records Ltd Warner Chappell

[On sleeve]: Printed in UK

Runouts are stamped except for "timtom" and "metropolis", which are etched.

Images

• Hold On To Your Friends - Discogs master release: https://www.discogs.com/master/5445
• Hold On To Your Friends (12" 45 RPM Single Limited Edition Numbered Gatefold) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/1450373-Morrissey-Hold-On-To-Your-Friends

Discogs information (additional release)

Notes

Promo release with unique cover.

Cataloque no. is CDRDJ 6385 on the back cover and CDRDJ 6383 on the disc itself.

Images

• Hold On To Your Friends (Single Promo) - Discogs release: https://www.discogs.com/release/2845105-Morrissey-Hold-On-To-Your-Friends

Wikipedia Information

"Hold On to Your Friends" is a song by Morrissey, released as a single in May 1994. It was the second single taken from the number 1 album Vauxhall and I. Morrissey claimed, "It was written about somebody I know, in relation of their treatment towards me." Reaching number 48 in the UK Singles Chart, the single became Morrissey's lowest charting single until "Glamorous Glue" in 2011, which reached number 69.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hold_On_to_Your_Friends

Related Forum Threads

• Morrissey A-Z: "Hold On To Your Friends" - Morrissey-solo (Mar 23, 2021)