Hanging On

For the Cheyenne Kimball song, see The Day Has Come. For uses of Hangin' On, see Hangin' On (disambiguation).

"Hanging On" is a song by American singer and songwriter Active Child from his debut studio album, You Are All I See (2011). It was written by Active Child and Ariel Rechtshaid, and produced by Rechtshaid.^[1] The song's music video, directed by T.S. Pfeffer and Robert McHugh,^[2] debuted on January 19, 2012.^[3] English singer Ellie Goulding covered "Hanging On" in 2012, while Australian alternative rock band Something for Kate included an acoustic cover of the song as a bonus track on the two-disc special edition of their 2012 album Leave Your Soul to Science.^[4]

"Hanging On"
Song by Active Child
from the album You Are All I See
Released	August 23, 2011 (2011-08-23)
Genre	Dream pop downtempo
Length	5:26
Label	Vagrant
Songwriter(s)	Patrick James Grossi Ariel Rechtshaid
Producer(s)	Ariel Rechtshaid

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of You Are All I See.^[1]

• Active Child – vocals, additional engineering, production
• Ariel Rechtshaid – engineering, mixing, production
• David Schiffman – mixing
• Howie Weinberg – mastering

Ellie Goulding version

"Hanging On"
Promotional single by Ellie Goulding featuring Tinie Tempah
from the album Halcyon
Released	10 July 2012 (2012-07-10)
Recorded	2012
Studio	Red Rhino Studios, Montreal, Quebec
Genre	Synth-pop dream pop downtempo dubstep
Length	3:22 (album version) 4:16 (featuring Tinie Tempah)
Label	Polydor
Songwriter(s)	Patrick James Grossi Ariel Rechtshaid Patrick Okogwu
Producer(s)	Billboard
Ellie Goulding promotional singles chronology
"Wish I Stayed" (2009) "Hanging On" (2012) "You My Everything" (2013)

In 2012, "Hanging On" was covered by English singer and songwriter Ellie Goulding for her second studio album, Halcyon. An alternative version featuring English rapper Tinie Tempah was released as a free download on 10 July 2012 via Goulding's SoundCloud page, serving as a promotional single for the album.^[5][6] The accompanying music video was directed by Ben Newbury and released on 13 July.^[7][8]

Goulding's cover version was featured in the Gossip Girl episode "The Revengers", the Nikita episode "Til Death Do Us Part" and on the soundtrack to the 2013 film adaptation of The Host.^[9][10][11] In February 2013, the Living Phantoms remix of the song was used in the "From Ashes" live-action trailer for the PlayStation 3 video game God of War: Ascension.^[12][13] The remix of the song by I See MONSTAS was included on the soundtrack to the 2014 film adaption of Divergent in addition to the original version appearing in the film.^[14]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Halcyon.^[7]

• Ellie Goulding – vocals
• Ben Baptie – mixing assistant
• Billboard – production
• Philippe Dumais – assistant engineering
• Tom Elmhirst – mixing
• Tinie Tempah – vocals
• Richard Vincent – engineering

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
UK Singles Chart[15]	144

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16]	Gold	500,000‡
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

1. You Are All I See (CD liner notes). Active Child. Vagrant Records. 2011. VR681.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
2. "Active Child – Hanging On (Official Video)". Pier Pictures. Archived from the original on June 17, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
3. Coplan, Chris (January 19, 2012). "Video: Active Child – "Hanging On"". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
4. Doyle, Benny (18 October 2012). "Something For Kate – Leave Your Soul To Science". theMusic.com.au. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
5. Bain, Becky (10 July 2012). "Ellie Goulding Covers Active Child's "Hanging On": Listen". Idolator. Spin Media. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
6. "Hanging On (ft. Tinie Tempah)". Email Unlock. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
7. Halcyon (UK iTunes deluxe edition liner notes). Ellie Goulding. Polydor Records. 2012.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
8. Cragg, Michael (13 July 2012). "New music: Ellie Goulding feat Tinie Tempah – Hanging On". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
9. Beard, Lanford (14 December 2012). "TV Jukebox holiday edition! 'New Girl,' 'Grey's Anatomy,' and more spirited music-on-TV-moments". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
10. "Nikita Music | Season 3". The CW. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
11. Schillaci, Sophie (18 March 2013). "'The Host' Soundtrack 'Choose to Listen' Features Ellie Goulding, Imagine Dragons". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
12. Caiazzo, Anthony (1 February 2013). "From Ashes: God of War: Ascension Live-Action Trailer Explores Kratos' Origins". PlayStation Blog. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
13. "Living Phantoms". livingphantoms.com. Retrieved 4 March 2013.
14. Hampp, Andrew (21 March 2014). "'Divergent' Soundtrack: Ellie Goulding Adds Three Songs as Young-Adult Music Shifts". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
15. "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending 20 October 2012". UKChartsPlus (582). Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd.
16. "American single certifications – Ellie Goulding – Hanging On". Recording Industry Association of America. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2022.