"Wheel in the Sky" is a song by the American rock band

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

, recorded in 1977 and included on their fourth studio album, '' Infinity.'' It was written and composed by

Robert Fleischman Robert Fleischman (born March 11, 1953) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for working with the rock band Journey, briefly as their lead vocalist in 1977 and occasionally thereafter as a songwriting collaborator. Biography F ...

Neal Schon Neal ( Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hon ...

, and Diane Valory.

Background

At the time of the song's composition, the band had decided to follow a new direction into an edgier sound and began recording simple hard rock pieces with new lead vocalist Fleischman. He was replaced by

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Journey during their most commercially successful periods from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He also wrote/co ...

once work on ''Infinity'' began in earnest. The song had started out as a poem titled "Wheels In My Mind", which had been written by Diane Valory, the wife of Journey bassist Ross Valory.

Reception

'' Cash Box'' said it has "tight lick guitar work and effective lead and backing vocals." "Wheel in the Sky" reached #57 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1978, becoming Journey's first song to chart on the Hot 100, and also reached #45 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' 100.

Structure

The song opens with an instrumental that lasts for 28 seconds. Perry then sings the first verse, which is followed by the chorus, and the second verse with the chorus repeated once again.

joins with a guitar solo which is filled with Perry's vocals. The chorus is repeated four times before the outro that closes the song.

Lyrics content

The narrator of "Wheel in the Sky" describes the newly arrived winter, as he is lamenting not having been home "in a year or more." He is missing home and longing to return and reconnect with an unnamed woman, and he hopes that "she holds on a little bit longer." He sings forlornly of "running down dusty road" and admits, "I can't take this very much longer." Throughout the refrain narrator notes the "wheel in the sky" which "keeps on turning," and hence can be interpreted as Diane Valory's metaphor for the various twists and turns of the narrator's life on the road as he repeatedly emphasizes, "I don't know where I'll be tomorrow." Alternatively, the wheel in the sky has often denoted the sun, which "keeps turning" in its apparent revolutions around the earth, and with each successive turn marks the passage of another day, bringing one closer to an anticipated date or event, and in this case the narrator's reunion with the woman.

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– guitars, backing vocals *

Gregg Rolie Gregg Alan Rolie (born June 17, 1947) is an American singer and keyboardist. Rolie served as lead singer of the bands Santana and Journey – both of which he co-founded. He also helmed rock group The Storm, performed in Ringo Starr & His A ...

– piano, backing vocals * Ross Valory – bass guitar, backing vocals * Aynsley Dunbar – drums

Chart performance

References

1977 songs 1978 singles Columbia Records singles Journey (band) songs Songs written by Neal Schon {{1970s-rock-song-stub