My Sunday Song – “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Kim Wilde

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic

My Sunday Song #29 is the song “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Kim Wilde.  It is hard to believe my wife has only one more week after this one.  How time flies.  Now I have to actually think of songs again!  I will now turn it over to my wife to explain the special meaning behind this song and maybe why the Kim Wilde version over the Supremes (which drops the “g” on Hanging)???…Enjoy!

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” is a 1966 song written and composed by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland. It was a Billboard Hot 100 hit in late 1966 for the American Motown group The Supremes. Over the years, various artists have covered this song; however, my absolute favorite is Kim Wilde’s version. Wilde released “You Keep Me Hanging On” on her album Another Step in 1986. This song became the biggest hit of Wilde’s career.

In researching this song for My Sunday Song, I discovered that Reba McEntire covered the song in 1995 for her twenty second studio album, Starting Over. I am a HUGE Reba fan and while I am sure I have or had this CD, I do not recall her covering this song. Perhaps I heard it and loved Wilde’s version so much more that I just blocked it out. I will try to locate Reba’s version of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”. I’m curious now!

Traveling back to 1986 when Wilde released “You Keep Me Hanging On”. I was in high school going into my senior year and music was EVERYTHING! Music was my way of making sense of everything going on around me and this song was no exception. I would sing this song “loud and proud” and “over and over”. Now, I read the lyrics and this song could be applicable to so many things. Maybe you want to be set free from a relationship, which is likely the first thing many people would think about when listening to this song, but what about being set free from addictions, bad habits, anxiety, depression, self-destructive behaviors, sin, or anything that is keeping you from living the life you deserve. You try to break free from these things only to go back to them.

I hadn’t heard the song in a very long time and it was played on the radio this past week and I was reminded of how much I loved the song. When I was reading through the lyrics and listening to it, I heard it in a different way from 30 years ago. I would be interested to hear your feelings on the song. Everyone has a different perspective.

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On”
(originally by The Supremes)

Set me free why don’t cha babe
Get out of my life why don’t cha babe
’cause you don’t really love me
You just keep me hangin’onSet me free why don’t cha babe
Get out of my life why don’t cha babe
You don’t really need me
But you keep me hangin’onWhy do you keep a comin’ around
Playing with my heart
Why don’t cha get out of my life
And let me make a brand new start
Let me get over you
The way you’ve gotten over me yeah

You say although we broke up
You still just wanna be friends
But how can we still be friends
When seeing you only breaks my heart again

Get out, get out of my life
And let me sleep at night
‘Cos you don’t really love me
You just keep me hangin’on

You say you still care for me
But your heart and soul needs to be free
And now that you’ve got your freedom
You wanna still hold on to me
You don’t want me for yourself
So let me find somebody else

Why don’t cha be a man about it and set me free
Now you don’t care a thing about me
You’re just using me – Hey, abusing me
Get out, get out of my life
And let me sleep at night
‘Cos you don’t really love me
You just keep me hangin’on
You don’t really need me
You just keep me – hangin’on

Written by Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland & Eddie Holland

9 thoughts on “My Sunday Song – “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Kim Wilde”

  1. John,
    Tell your wife she’s giving me Flashbacks now to when Casey Kasem had his weekly Top 20 half hour Tv show that was on here in Thunder Bay every Saturday at 12 noon!
    Good Times…
    Kasem’s Tv show was the firs time i had seen the Stones video of Start Me Up as well and that was back in late 81….
    You could say I watched his show every Saturday!
    Nice Post!

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  2. I like it too! 🙂 Not a massive fan of pop music but the 80s had some great gems in that department. Another Kim Wilde favourite is “Never Trust a Stranger”.

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  3. I like the post! I like it much better than Ms. Wilde’s version of the song, which ranges too far from The Supremes for me. Does anyone else hear Madonna? Or maybe it is the dance club genre of the 1980s, which I associate with M. For me, drop the pop and sling the soul, even if that soul was ‘pop’ in its day. Is it clear my formative music years were a decade earlier than yours? I tend to be a stickler when it comes with sticking to originals. Plus I grew up in Michigan, the cradle of Motown. So … too many factors in me working against Kim Wilde, but I enjoyed the musical and thoughtful journey this post prompted. Thanks.

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  4. I remember this one very well, just as much as listening to Casey Kasem on American Top 40. Those were the years that I can remember almost never missing his show.

    Like many, I think the Supremes version was better; perhaps one of their best songs.

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  5. I was remind of this song today, because one of the student is in bondage from sin, conidently we are doing book of Romans. Forgot even the title, & had to google for it. Thru Jesus’ grace, I have been teaching bible to Ukraninans daily. And one of the student, only male in the class thru Facebook video because of war, has lots of sin issues, including sexual immorality. He wouldn’t tell me about it either. Becasue HS convicted me, I asked him questions, & he admitted it was all true.

    Same with me but God freed me. In the class the pastors wife was there too, so I told her too, & it’s up to her church but he needs deliverance. So asking for prayers so he can be free.

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