Singled Out: Willie Stratton's The Way She Holds Me

Keavin Wiggins | 07-27-2021

Willie Stratton just released his brand new single "The Way She Holds Me" and to celebrate we have asked him to tell us about the track. Here is the story:

The Way She Holds Me was kind of a culmination of a bunch of different events happening at once, and then kind of combining them into one story, like a composite character of many different romantic experiences.
The years leading up to the song I had spent a lot of time in motels, travelling a lot, playing shows out of town, trying to find the cheapest place to stay, and falling in love with that atmosphere. I used to love going on road trips as a kid and staying in these motels that seemed like they were trapped in the 60's or 70s. In a way, it was as if embarking on a road trip in the old family car, leaving your regular schedule behind and entering this strange motel world, it's like the trip transcends time itself. That's something I continue to appreciate in these old drive up style motels, and I really wanted to write a song that seems to live in this strange, seedy universe.

When I had started writing this song I was freshly out of a pretty bad relationship that kinda went on too long, and, sure enough, had its fair share of motel encounters. I think off the top of the song it kind of explains that. Like, "Yeah, this is not a good idea, but it sure feels good in the moment." I think that's a pretty common situation these days, my generation being somewhat notorious for instant gratification without considering long term consequences, but I also think there's a certain timelessness to just about any romantic situation. People across the course of history definitely have a way of mixing things up!

I wanted to set the scene with the imagery I associate with being on the road in the way I like to travel, almost Kerouac meets Lynch kind of vibe. It starts off with cream swirling around in a cheap diner coffee beneath neon lights, then moves on to bad romance, big American motors, and switchblade knives. I've always liked the idea of talking about people and romance with cars, I find it's just such a touchstone of rock and roll, from way back to Robert Johnson, to the Beach Boys and Bo Diddley all the way up to Deep Purple's Highway Star and just about anything Marc Bolan wrote, I find using those features can connect a song to this sort of rock and roll universe that exists in my mind. I love the imagery of big old American engines, like a Ford V8, which is really on the way out these days, but that roar and power just kind of takes me back in time. I think certain people, like this composite character in this song, sort of embody that kind of power and have a timeless mystique to them: beautiful, powerful, and dangerous!

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below or stream the song via Spotify