Asa Orbison: Hand I Used to Hold
Asa Orbison's “Hand I Used to Hold” Takes Top Honors in John Lennon Songwriting Contest
by Jack Rush
Singer-songwriter Asa Orbison has earned recognition in the 2026 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, with “Hand I Used to Hold,” a collaboration with guitarist Ulf Wakenius, selected as the Week 2 winner of its Break-Up Songs competition. The achievement places Asa Orbison's songwriting in the spotlight, celebrating an emotionally perceptive exploration of love, distance, and the complicated realities of relationships.
At the heart of “Hand I Used to Hold” is an experience that rarely receives the same attention as the dramatic endings of love songs: recognizing that someone is drifting away while you're still trying to preserve what remains.
As Asa Orbison described the song's meaning, it's about loving someone while still holding their hand, yet feeling that connection “slipping through the fingers of the hand I hold.”
That sentiment offers an intimate perspective on romantic loss, capturing the uncertainty that accompanies a relationship's gradual unraveling. It's an approach that speaks to Asa Orbison's interest in the emotional details that make personal storytelling relatable, allowing a seemingly ordinary gesture to carry considerable weight.
The recognition comes through the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, an international competition celebrating original compositions across a range of musical styles. Its special Break-Up Songs competition invited songwriters to explore heartbreak through their own creative interpretations, with judges considering originality, melody, composition, and lyrics.
As a weekly winner, Asa Orbison and Ulf Wakenius receive Audio-Technica wireless headphones, with their song also eligible for the competition's limited-edition Taylor GS Mini guitar grand prize.
For Asa Orbison, the distinction is a meaningful acknowledgment of a song that finds its greatest emotional impact in the moments when love hasn't quite ended, but holding on is becoming increasingly difficult.
Have a listen and connect to Åsa Orbison:
