Holding Back the Years

"Holding Back the Years"
1985 UK 7-inch vinyl single
Single by Simply Red
from the album Picture Book
B-side	"Drowning in My Own Tears" / "I Won't Feel Bad"
Released	1985
Genre	Pop rock, blue-eyed soul
Length	4:07
Label	WEA Elektra
Writer(s)	Mick Hucknall, Neil Moss
Producer(s)	Stewart Levine
Simply Red singles chronology
"Come to My Aid" (1985) "Holding Back the Years" (1985) "Jericho" (1986)
"Jericho" (1986) "Holding Back the Years" (re-release) (1986) "Open Up the Red Box" (1986) Picture Book track listing "Money's Too Tight to Mention" (6) "Holding Back the Years" (7) "(Open Up) The Red Box" (8)

"Holding Back the Years" is the 7th track on Simply Red's debut studio album Picture Book (1985). It remains their most successful single, having reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. It is one of two Simply Red songs (the other being their cover of "If You Don't Know Me by Now") to reach #1 in the US. "Holding Back the Years" had initially been released in the UK the year before, reaching #51. The song was nominated in the category of Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards.

Frontman of the group Mick Hucknall wrote the song when he was 17, while living at his father's house. The chorus did not come to him until many years later. His mother left the family when he was three; the upheaval caused by this event inspired him to write the song. The music was co-written with Neil Moss, a member of Hucknall's first group, the Frantic Elevators.