The repetition of 'hold on' seems to produce both an internal mantra for the speaker and a chant to the subject of the songs lyrics. The lyrics intimate, for me, a Victorianesque love affair between a bed-ridden aristocrat secretly involved in a tryst with a maid-servant of some sort (perhaps this is indicated by the rather archaic and noble practice of using a service bell). The 'service bell', therefore, being the only manner that he can issue and declare his feelings (or to let the subject of the song know he is calling to him/her) to the other person. The utter simplicity of the lyrics, yet the abstractness of their meaning, indicate the intangible and grayish area that Grizzly Bear thrives in.
The repetition of 'hold on' seems to produce both an internal mantra for the speaker and a chant to the subject of the songs lyrics. The lyrics intimate, for me, a Victorianesque love affair between a bed-ridden aristocrat secretly involved in a tryst with a maid-servant of some sort (perhaps this is indicated by the rather archaic and noble practice of using a service bell). The 'service bell', therefore, being the only manner that he can issue and declare his feelings (or to let the subject of the song know he is calling to him/her) to the other person. The utter simplicity of the lyrics, yet the abstractness of their meaning, indicate the intangible and grayish area that Grizzly Bear thrives in.