There are multiple artists by the name of David Gray, including:
1) a Br… Read Full Bio ↴There are multiple artists by the name of David Gray, including:
1) a British singer-songwriter
2) an Italian disco musician
3) an American singer-songwriter
4) drummer for the British blackened death metal band Akercocke
5) a musician from South Africa
6) a British classical hornist
---
1) David Gray is a British singer-songwriter born on June 13, 1968 in Sale, United Kingdom. He released his first studio album in 1993 and received worldwide attention after the release of White Ladder six years later in 1999.
Gray moved to Wales at age 9 and later returned to the north-west of England to attend the University of Liverpool. His musical career got early support from a dedicated Irish fan base. After a few marginally-successful releases through the 1990s, Gray's breakthrough came with the worldwide release in 1999 of his fourth album, White Ladder; this was a critical and commercial success and included his best-known songs, "This Years Love" and "Babylon". In the United States, the album received a boost from jam-band leader Dave Matthews, who made it the first release by the record company he co-founded, ATO Records.
On August 11, 2001 White Ladder at last reached the top of the UK charts, having been selling steadily since its reissue the previous May, thereby setting a new record for the longest uninterrupted climb to No. 1. The follow-up, A New Day At Midnight, also hit No. 1, and Gray's seventh album, Life in Slow Motion was released on September 12, 2005.
Gray's early music was in a contemporary folk-rock, singer-songwriter mode; his primary instrument was acoustic guitar, with occasional piano. 1996's Sell Sell Sell featured some rock arrangements and electric instrumentation. Starting with the release of White Ladder in 1999, Gray began to make significant use of computer-generated music to accompany his voice and acoustic instrumentation, a technique which differentiates him from many of his peers. Despite the move to more complex music, Gray has used small-scale, often home-based, recording methods and equipment and espoused a "do it yourself" approach to music production. However, Life in Slow Motion is a collaboration with noted producer Marius De Vries.
David Gray's brothers-in-law are Paul and Phillip Hartnoll, formerly of the Techno/Rave band Orbital. Because of this relationship, Gray performed guest vocals on the Orbital single Illuminate, while Paul Hartnoll produced a breakbeat remix of Gray's song "Please Forgive Me".
His successful single "January Rain" was included in the original soundtrack of the movie Serendipity, starring John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.
Pictures and additional information can be found on his website, www.DavidGray.com.
---
2) David Gray was an Italian disco musician who had a hit with "Dead in the Water"
---
3) David Gray is an American singer-songwriter
---
4) David Gray is drummer for the British blackened death metal band Akercocke
---
5) David Gray is a musician from South Africa
---
6) British classical hornist, originally from London, England, UK, residing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Studied at the Curtis Institute Of Music. Former Principal Horn with The London Symphony Orchestra (1964-1972). Member of The Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.

Hold On To Nothing
David Gray Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hold on to nothing
Hold on to coldest steel
It chills you down inside
When you see just what is real
Paste it up and tear it down
Move it on along the rushing road
Seventeen Fahrenheit
Feel the winter grow

There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it down
There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it down
Nowhere to write it down
Write it down

Step down the alley
Walking against the stony crowd
Trying not to listen
Oh but they shout so loud
Chew you up and spit you out
Crush you 'tween its finger and its thumb
This world in all its anger
Oh and there's always more to come

There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it down
There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it
There's nowhere to write it down

Nowhere to write it down
Write it down

Overall Meaning

David Gray's song "Hold On to Nothing" is a commentary on the harsh realities of life and the struggle to find meaning in it all. The opening lines "Hold on to nothing, hold on to coldest steel" create an image of someone holding on to something cold and unfeeling, perhaps a representation of the harsh reality they are facing. The phrase "It chills you down inside, when you see just what is real" further emphasizes the frigid and bleak nature of the truth they have come to realize.

Throughout the song, Gray describes the world as a place that grinds you down and spits you out. The imagery in the line "Chew you up and spit you out, crush you 'tween its finger and its thumb" illustrates the way life can be brutal and unforgiving. The repetition of the phrase "nowhere to write it down" emphasizes the feeling of being trapped, of having no outlet for the emotions and thoughts that are swirling around inside.

Overall, the song can be seen as a call to hold on to hope and to keep searching for meaning, even in the face of overwhelming darkness.

Line by Line Meaning

Hold on to nothing
Don't cling to anything, be willing to let go

Hold on to coldest steel
Embrace what is hard and painful

It chills you down inside
The truth can be cold and unsettling

When you see just what is real
Coming face-to-face with reality can be tough

Paste it up and tear it down
Build something up just to watch it fall apart

Move it on along the rushing road
Keep going, don't stop or look back

Seventeen Fahrenheit
An extremely low temperature, representing the harshness of reality

Feel the winter grow
Sense the coldness and bleakness of the world intensifying

There's nowhere to write it
No outlet for expressing oneself

There's nowhere to write it down
No way to record one's thoughts or feelings