Journey – Wheel In The Sky

This was the Journey I really liked…before a member left (Gregg Rolie) and one was added (Jonathan Cain)…and they became more radio-friendly with Escape. It comes down to my personal tastes. Gregg Rolie played a B4 organ and sounded great and Cain played an 80’s Casio (just kidding but…) synth…it changed the music completely…but it did make them more accessible to the masses…so yea I’m in the minority.

This song was on the album Infinity. Personally…my favorite Journey album is Departure. The three I listen to are Infinity, Evolution, and Departure. The albums before were prog albums and the ones after…more 80’s radio pop. With those three albums, they were more of a rock band.

The origin of this song is interesting. It started off as a poem by Diane Valory, the wife of Journey bassist Ross Valory. The band’s first vocalist, Robert Fleischman, wrote new lyrics, and guitarist Neal Schon wrote the melody on acoustic guitar in the back seat of a station wagon while the band was driving between shows.

This song was the first single to chart for the band. Before this album, they were more of a progressive band. With this single and the next two albums, they started building themselves up in the charts to lay the groundwork for superstardom in the eighties.

The song peaked at #57 on the Billboard 100 and #45 in Canada in 1978.

Wheel In The Sky

Winter is here again, oh Lord
Haven’t been home in a year or more
I hope she holds on a little longer
Sent a letter on a long summer day
Made of silver, not of clay
Ooh, I’ve been runnin’ down this dusty road

Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’

I’ve been trying to make it home
Got to make it before too long
Ooh, I can’t take this very much longer, no
I’m stranded in the sleet and rain
Don’t think I’m ever gonna make it home again
The morning sun is risin’
It’s kissin’ the day

Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
I don’t’ know where I’ll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’, whoa, whoa, whoa
My, my, my, my, my
For tomorrow

Oh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
Ooh, I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps me yearnin’
Ooh, I don’t know, I don’t know where

Oh, the wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
Ooh, I don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
Ooh, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know

Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’
Don’t know where I’ll be tomorrow
Ooh, the wheel in the sky keeps turnin’
Wheel in the sky keeps on turnin’

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball fan, old movie and tv show fan... and a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

26 thoughts on “Journey – Wheel In The Sky”

  1. Agree with you 100% on Pre-Cain. He is a balladeer and all this drama between him and Schon is brutal. They are worse than when Roth was in VH and that was bad! lol Good ol Casio! hahaha

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      2. LOL…my biggest problem with Cain…he changed them from a rock band to a purely radio pop band….but YES…I do agree on the grumpiness factor!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I’m not the Journey expert in our house, and I at times get the albums confused unless I see the track listing. But always have liked this song. Rollie is a talent for sure. three things about Journey to me – 1, I like their rock stuff better than the slow ballads, 2, Steve Perry era was much better than pre-Perry era and 3, the new guy (Pineda?) sounds a lot like Perry…more than steve Perry himself does these days!

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    1. I was going to say that…he sounds more like him than he does lol.
      They had three periods really…Prog – Rock/pop – Pop. Just my tastes…but I relate to the Rock/pop era more.

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  7. Great pick, Max. “Wheel in the Sky” is among my all-time favorite Journey tunes, along with “Lights”, another tune from the “Infinity” album.

    I dig Journey songs from all of their different phases. Some of their prog rock music, a genre I don’t universally love, is pretty good. Steve Perry was an incredible vocalist. I also agree that Arnel Pineda is a more than worthy successor who unlike Perry these days still can hit these incredibly high notes.

    The tensions between Schon and some former members are quite unfortunate! Why can’t they just play great music and cut all the BS!

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    1. I can say….I’m not open minded with them…. My like for them went out the door with Rolie.

      Yea his voice is really good and yes…Pineda is more like him than Perry is now.
      Yea I’ve read about Schon and Cain…it’s sad….I’m sure there is enough money to go around!

      Liked by 1 person

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      2. Hold on man…I’ll check. Work wiped me out today… if you wouldn’t have told me I would never have found it…it went to my spam folder…I’m reading it now

        Liked by 1 person

  9. “Wheel in the Sky” is the song that made me an fan of Journey. I loved that song and “Lights”, so bought ‘Infinity’. I did like some of their later songs too though, especially “Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin'”, “Separate Ways” and “Send Her My Love”.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. They did have some great ones. For some reason I just favor this period…Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin remains one of my favorites by them…Lights is probably my favorite.

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