Luca George, Before You Hold Me | Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈

In the third edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight the song, “Before You Hold Me” performed by Luca George.

Prepare to beam with P-R-I-D-E 🏳️‍🌈! Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 celebrates, embraces, and spotlights songs by LGBTQ musicians or allies.  Here, we provide background and insight into musician(s) and analyze + go gaga over the decadent bops served up.  When the music dictates deeper, more transcendent discussion, we ensure the point is fully articulated.  All styles of music are welcome while the songs can be classics or brand-spanking new. So, without further ado, in the third edition of Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 (2025), we highlight “Before You Hold Me” performed by Luca George.

“I just remembered that I’m lonely / Every two months / I need someone to hold me / Is that too much?” Loneliness is a ‘bear,’ and not the cute, cuddly kind… or the hairy dominant kind 😝.  Loneliness, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, can feel even lonelier. There are more concerns, layers, and worries – it hits differently. Luca George does a marvelous job of expressing his feelings and showcasing vulnerability in his moving single, “Before You Hold Me”.  The moment I stumbled across this ballad, it spoke volumes to me.  The experiences and feelings that George sings about are some of my own.  If it speaks to me, it certainly will speak to others too.

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George’s voice is stunning.  The Australian musician often sings cool, calm, and collectedly.  He does bring more oomph by the end. Beyond singing about loneliness, Luca questions his adequacy and how much he deserves to be loved.  He is flawed, plagued by ‘faux prettiness,’ and suffering from body dysmorphia.

“Before you hold me

I need a better body

I need to stop believing that I’m pretty

I could be rotting from within

As long as I’ve got perfect skin

Before you know me

Before you hold me.”

Those lyrics, from the chorus, instantly piqued my ears.  You want to believe you’re handsome, but you see other men, with these incredible bodies and model looks, and it can mess with your confidence, causing you to get in your own way.  ‘He couldn’t possibly want me’… I’m inadequate.  It also strikes a chord when George sings, “If there was a pill I could take right now / To change everything I hate about myself.” Amen.  But, the reality is, that’s not possible – there would still be something else that would materialize that you would hate about yourself.  George’s attitude changes by the end of the song. He’s more positive, opening himself up for love:

“Before you hold me

I need to like my body

I need to start believe that I’m pretty ‘cause I am

If I change the things I hate

It’s a never-ending fate

I’ve gotta know me

Before you hold me.”

Preach, Luca George! Sometimes, you learn that the things you despise about yourself, your partner loves or sees beyond. “Before You Hold Me” is about the importance of believing in yourself and not cheating yourself of the opportunity for love. George, Gabrielle Aplin, and producer Joseph Wander composed a gorgeous, meaningful, and must-hear song.  Pride beaming hard!

Luca George // “Before You Hold Me” // Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd. // 2024

Luca George, Before You Hold Me: Beaming with Pride 🏳️‍🌈 No. 3 (2025) [📷: Brent Faulkner/ The Musical Hype; Universal Music Australia Pty Ltd.; Elias Souza, Mario Spencer, Mizuno K from Pexels;  All_CC0_Public_domain, CatsWithGlasses, David, ernestflowerss, Kelly, M. Harris, Marek Studzinski, OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay]