【In-Depth Guide】Journey’s Endless Journey (Their History) — Click Here!!
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No.10: “Wheel in the Sky”
Hello everyone. Starting with this article, I’m launching a new series titled “Journey – My Personal Best 10”, a completely subjective ranking filled with my own biases and an overflowing love for the band Journey.
As always, selecting only ten songs from their countless masterpieces proved far more difficult than I had imagined. I kept thinking, “I want to include that song… but I can’t leave out this melody either.” Day after day, I found myself surrounded by records, CDs, and streaming tracks, struggling to make the final decisions.
After surviving this fierce internal battle, the song that claims the memorable No.10 spot is the monumental track that signaled the beginning of their golden era: “Wheel in the Sky.”
When people think of Journey, they may imagine grand ballads beginning with beautiful piano intros or polished pop-rock anthems powerful enough to shake stadiums. However, the song chosen this time carries a slightly different character — a blend of earthiness, melancholy, and hard-rock solidity. Why rank this song at No.10? Because it represents a crucial turning point that ultimately determined the destiny of Journey as a band.
A Free Interpretation of the Lyrics
The seasons turn, while time passes without a way home. Running forward without knowing where the road leads. Surrendering to the vast flow of the sky, searching for tomorrow. Carrying the longing to return somewhere, moving on through another day.
First, Listen to the Official Audio
■ Credits (Japanese) “Wheel in the Sky” / Journey Written by: Steve Perry, Neal Schon, Diane Valory © Columbia Records (from the 1978 album “Infinity”) ■ Two-Line Commentary Released in 1978, this classic rock anthem symbolizes Journey’s breakthrough period. Driven by energetic guitar work and Steve Perry’s powerful vocals, the song marked the dawn of the band’s golden age.
A “Gritty” Anthem That Bridged the Band to Its Golden Era
The year 1978, when “Wheel in the Sky” was released, marked a true rebirth for Journey. Up until then, the band had focused on progressive rock and jazz-rock approaches that showcased their technical prowess, yet commercial success remained just out of reach.
The band began searching for a more melodic and accessible direction. The song opens with Neal Schon’s melancholic acoustic guitar arpeggios, soon joined by gritty electric guitar riffs that create a highly dramatic progression. Above all, what stands out is the voice of newly joined vocalist Steve Perry.
The moment his soaring high-tenor voice cuts through the heavy soundscape, Journey entered an entirely new dimension. Unlike the later synthesizer-driven polished sound, this track contains a dry, windswept rock dynamism reminiscent of open landscapes. Within that rawness shines an overwhelming melodic beauty — one of the main reasons I continue to love this song so deeply.
A Frozen Winter and the Longing for a Home That Feels Out of Reach
The depth of this song lies not only in its sound but also in its worldview. Without quoting the lyrics directly, what is portrayed here is the profound loneliness of a person traveling endlessly with no clear destination.
A traveler laments the return of a harsh winter, having not set foot in their hometown for over a year. Memories remain of sending letters to a loved one during summer days, yet reality offers only a dusty road stretching endlessly ahead. There is an intense anxiety in not knowing where tomorrow will lead. Meanwhile, something like a “wheel of fate” in the sky keeps turning mercilessly on.
This sense of restlessness and isolation mirrors the lives of musicians themselves, endlessly touring through life. Because it expresses a deeper, more existential unease rather than a simple love song or encouragement anthem, the song continues to resonate across generations.
Memories of Winter Skies During My Student Years
Whenever I encounter the lyric’s theme — not knowing where you will be tomorrow — memories of my university days in Tokyo inevitably return.
I had moved to Tokyo from the countryside and lived alone in a small, aging apartment. Inside me coexisted both youthful confidence and an equally powerful undefined anxiety about the future. Especially in winter, standing on the platform of a Keio Inokashira Line station, feeling the cold wind while gazing up at an unfamiliar Tokyo sky, I remember a deep sense of loneliness that remains vivid even today.
I wrote reassuring letters home saying I was doing fine — this was before email existed — yet I had no idea who I would become in that vast city or what path awaited me tomorrow.
On freezing winter nights, listening alone to “Wheel in the Sky” on cassette tape, Steve Perry’s melancholic high voice felt as though it gently comforted my lonely back. The wheel in the sky kept turning, and time never stopped. Perhaps in those moments I learned a quiet resolve — to keep walking the dusty road despite uncertainty.
The Longing to Return — and a Heart on the Verge of Breaking
The middle section portrays a traveler desperately trying to find a way back home. Standing in sleet and cold rain, there is a painful moment when hope nearly collapses — the fear that returning home may never be possible.
During my own nearly forty-year working career, there were countless nights when endless responsibilities and complicated human relationships left me wondering when the cold rain would finally stop. The heavy, dragging guitar riff of this song often sounds like the footsteps of such exhausting days.
The Rhythm Section: The Pulse of an Endless Journey
Let’s also pay attention to the musical foundation. While Neal Schon’s melodic guitar and Steve Perry’s powerful vocals draw most attention, the true backbone of the song lies in the thick, sticky groove of the rhythm section.
The driving bass line and surging drums heading into the chorus embody the physical weight of a massive wheel that never stops turning. The analog warmth characteristic of the era adds further depth, sonically portraying the irresistible pull of destiny itself.
A Voice That Cuts Through Darkness — and the Catharsis of Morning Light
Yet what makes this song truly special is that it does not end in despair. Beyond the darkness and cold rain, a new morning always arrives. In the latter half, the lyrics shift toward a hopeful image as the rising sun gently blesses a new day.
This dramatic contrast between shadow and light is perfectly expressed through Steve Perry’s increasingly passionate vocals toward the finale. His emotional ad-libs and soul-shaking shouts feel like the moment a frozen traveler regains vitality under the rising sun. His voice embodies the limitless human energy to face whatever destiny’s wheel may bring.
The Moment Journey’s “Wheel of Destiny” Began to Turn
Breaking with the Past and Setting Out Toward a New Expression
While retaining elements of progressive rock, Journey discovered a more dynamic and emotionally direct melodic style through this song, leading to a series of future mega-hits. Without this gritty yet powerful transitional anthem, Journey might never have become the polished stadium-rock giants we know today.
Having now closed the chapter on my own long working career, I continue a new musical journey through this blog from my hometown of Oita. The “wheel in the sky” I once gazed at anxiously from a small Tokyo apartment is surely still turning above me. But now, instead of fearing its motion, I carry a quiet resolve to keep walking that endless road together with music.
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