Hold Me Like This [adapted from Mario Clavell’s “Abrazame asi”]

Just hold me like this

So we can feel both our hearts beat as one

With this embrace, know our life has begun

Since the moment you touched me.

When you hold me like this,

I can feel your heart beat close to mine

In perfect rhythm that goes with the rime

Of my words, “I adore you.”

When you hold me like this,

My heart sways in Eternity’s arms

And I know that there’s nothing can harm

Us in Love’s special hour.

Just hold me like this

In our embrace now we’re frozen in time

In perfect comfort, a love that’s sublime

When you hold me like this.

[Spanish words and music by Mario Clavell; English words by Kenneth Wayne Hancock]

Note: I wrote these lyrics a year ago—words to convey to the English speaking world the beautiful sentiment of this Latin standard. I am an incurable romantic. I believe in love, the love from above. Man and woman, if they are blessed, will taste a morsel of this divine love perhaps once in their life. It is this that the human heart longs for. Books, movies, and songs depicting this need for love will always be with us.

I believe that this rare emotional love is a metaphor of Christ’s love for us all. He said for husbands to love their wives as He loved us. We all yearn to be loved, and some of us yearn to love—to love with the love from above. To fill this aching vacuum in our hearts, the poets and composers write songs depicting this love. And they always will.

[Listen to Roberto Carlos sing this song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UHhmK6n9s0